Sudan

SUDAN
Republic of Sudan, the state in northeastern Africa. It borders in the north with Egypt, in the East - with Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the south - with Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the south-west and west - with the Central African Republic and Chad, in the North-West - with Libya. In the northeast is washed by the Red Sea. The territory of the country is part of the extensive natural area of \u200b\u200bSudan, which extends from the Sahara desert to the wet rainforest of Central and West Africa. In its area (2.5 million square meters), Sudan is the largest state in the African continent. In 1998, the population of the country was 33 million people, while 20% of the population lived in cities. About 10% leads a nomadic lifestyle, and 70% lives in rural areas. The extensive areas of the desert in the north of the country are completely not populated. The territories that became part of modern Sudan were first united in the 19th century, and the current state borders were established in 1898. January 1, 1956 the independence of Sudan was proclaimed. Country of the country - Khartoum.

Sudan. Capital - Khartoum. Population - 33 million people (1998). Population density - 13 people per 1 sq. M. km. Urban population - 20%, rural - 80%. Area - 2.5 million square meters. km. The highest point is the Kineti mountain (3187 m). Official language - Arabic. The main religion is Islam. Administrative and territorial division: 9 states, including the capital - the city of Hartum. Monetary unit: Sudanese pound \u003d 100 piars. National holiday: Independence Day - January 1. State anthem: "We welcome you, the Republic of Sudan."

Nature. Surface structure. Most of the Sudan territory is an extensive plateau of a medium height of 460 m, having a common bias from the south to the north. Its central parts are almost flat, but the surface gradually rises in the western and eastern directions to higher parts of the plateau. In the south, along the border with Uganda, and in the East, along the border with Ethiopia and along the coast of the Red Sea, the mountains stretch. In the border with Uganda Mountains there is the highest point of the country Mount Kineti (3187 m).
The entire country from the south to the north crosses the river system of the upper and middle Nile. White Neal, known in the upper course called Bahr-El Jebel (in the Translation - "Mountain Nile"), originates in Uganda. It spreads along the extensive clay plain of the judis (Arab. "Barrier"), where the flow slows down due to the abundance of water vegetation. From the west, R. El Gazal falls from the West, which takes the stock of numerous rivers, draining the Nile watershed and Congo. From the east, the White Nile takes the influx of sobat. The Blue Nile has the source in the mountains of Ethiopia, carries water to the north-west and merges with white Neil at Khartoum. Below the river flows under the name of the Nile, taking in the East, 320 km north of Khartoum, the influx of Atbara, which, as well as sob, begins in the mountains of Ethiopia. White Nile has a steady stock, as it feeds from OZ. Victoria and other Lake Uganda. The judis area also has a regulatory effect on the drain. On Blue Nile, only one flood is expressed - after severe summer rains in Ethiopia; At the beginning of the year, the water level is significantly reduced. Blue Nile and, to a lesser extent, the Atbara is brought to the Nile such a lot of floodwater, which north of the central Sudan the level of the Nile at the end of the summer is greatly rising. The minimum water level in Nile is observed in winter.
In the Nile Valley, located in the desert zone, over the course of centuries, agriculture developed, based on irrigation by floodplain fields. For the irrigation of the lands below the city of El-Galen in the Valley of the White Nile and below the city of Singa in the Blue Nile Valley, artificial irrigation facilities are used. At the same time, river water is pumped out with pumps, and then under the action of gravity spread through the fields. In the area of \u200b\u200bEl Gezir (Arab. "Island"), which is a clinoid-shaped plain with an area of \u200b\u200bapprox. 2 million hectares between White and Blue Nile South of Khartoum, the most important array of irrigated land is concentrated. This is the water of the blue Nile, a large dam in Sennare, coming off; The total area of \u200b\u200bthe processed lands is 0.7 million hectares. Other large dams were built in the 1960s in Er-Russiairez on Blue Nile and Hashm-El Girbe on Atbara (south-west of the Cassals). Earth, irrigated by the fence of water above the Hashm el-Girba dam, are treated with peasants that moved from the district border with Egypt in the Nile Valley, after it flooding the reservoir of Nasser as a result of the construction of the Asuan dam.
To the west of r. White Neal extends an extensive wavy plateau Cordofan height 300-600 m above U.M. At the extreme West, Sudan is a plateau of Darfur height from 1500 to 3000 m (the highest point of Mount Marra, 3088 m). Between the Cordofan plateau and the Darfur plate, a number of separate arrays height from 750 to 1000 m. North of them and east and southeast of Darfur there is a large array of fixed sand dunes. In the extreme north-west, the moving dunes of the Libyan desert enter the limits of Sudan.
To the east of the Nile Valley, the surface rises, forming the plateau of the Nubian desert and the mountains, the bourgeing coast of the Red Sea. The highest point of the Oda Mountain reaches 2259 m, some vertices exceed 1500 m. The mountains are cool open to the nasal sandy coastal plain with a width of 15 to 30 km. Coast coral reefs and small islands, but only in few places there are bays that are convenient for the construction of ports.
Climate. The amount of precipitation and duration of the wet season decrease in the direction from the south to the north. In the extreme south, more than 1500 mm of precipitation falls over nine months. Next to the north there is a savanna with alternating wet and dry seasons, which is replaced by semi-samide and, finally, exclusively arid conditions. In the south, all year round is hot weather, and in the north the hot summer is replaced by moderately warm in winter. In Juba in the south of the country, the average annual precipitation exceeds 970 mm, and their main part falls from April to October. Middle temperatures range from 26 ° C to wet months (July-August) to 29 ° C in dry months (February-March). Throughout the year, daytime temperatures reach 30-37 ° C.
In Khartouume, in the north of Semiaride Central Sudan, the annual precipitation amount is only 150 mm, and they mostly fall out in the form of a rainforest from July to September. The average temperatures range from 23 ° C in January to 34 ° C in early June. At the beginning of the summer, daytime temperatures often exceed 43 ° C.
The extreme north of Sudan almost does not receive precipitation: in some years several rains bring from 13 to 25 mm. The average temperatures range from 16 ° C in January to 33 ° C in June - August. Maximum summer daytime temperatures sometimes reach 43-49 ° C.
The coastal zone is under the influence of warm sea waters. In Port Sudan, medium temperatures range from 23 ° C in February to 35 ° C in August. A minor amount of precipitation falls from October to January and in July-August, but the total annual amount does not exceed 100 mm. Moreover, the air is constantly wet, cool at night. Due to hot wet days and stuffy nights for most of the year, the coast climate is considered one of the most unfavorable in the world.
Flora. The vegetable world of Sudan varies from wet rainforests in the south to the desert in the north. There are six large plant zones. Net tropical forests grow near the southern border of the country. In the southwest, where the annual amount of precipitation exceeds 1000 mm, tropical palpal and high-tech are distributed. The most valuable tree breeds - Kaya Senegalskaya (Qhaya Senegalensis) and Isoberia (Isoberlinia Doka). Widely practiced gravy-firing agriculture. The growth of trees is constrained due to fires in the dry season. The zone itself is savanna (the amount of precipitation from 500 to 1000 mm) is characterized by the development of highly ever, as well as acacia and other trees, therefore the term "Akaciyevo-High-herved Savannah" is used. However, significant areas, annually flooded during floods, are generally devoid of wood vegetation and are highly harvested plains used for grazing. Papyrus and other swamp plants are growing at limited areas in the area of \u200b\u200bpermanent flooding. In central Sudan (precipitation amount of 300 to 500 mm) prevails low-aligned savanna with dispersed acacia. Most of the territory is used for grazing of livestock, partly acacia will be cut into fuel. In this zone, as well as in Savannah, in general, well-humidized shores of the White and Blue Nile fucked by a barbed gender with acacia (acacia arabica) and other trees used as businesswood and fuel. Next to the north (precipitation amount from 50 to 300 mm) vegetation is represented by shrub desert, where acacias are growing, which are eaten by camels, sheep and goats. From the Acacia Senegalskaya (Acacia Senegal), Hummirabik is mined, which is one of the important items of exports of Sudan. In the extreme north, less than 50 mm of precipitation per year is dropping. The vegetation cover is extremely resolved, and, with the exception of the Nile Valley, the area is almost not populated.
Fauna. In the south of the country in the forests and savannah palpathians live different animals, including elephant, buffalo, zebra, white and black rhino, giraffe, lion, forest pig, chimpanzee, leopard, cheetah, hyena and many types of antelope: Cannes, big and small Kudu, shrub, horsepower, and others. Along the watercourse in the south, hippo and crocodile are found in the south, as well as tropical birds like Flamingo, secretary, different types of storks, including Marabu. In the winter of the northern hemisphere, European migratory birds cross the Sugar along the way to Northern Sudan, especially in the Nile Valley, and migrants from South Africa appear in the winter of the South Hemisphere. Monkeys, small birds, snakes and insects complement the variety of fauna. In more dry savannas and deserts, Gazelles meet places. The mountains in the West of Central Sudan inhabit the antelopes Oriks and Addax, and in the northeast - Nubian Capricorn and wild donkey (in the mountains stretching along the coast of the Red Sea).
POPULATION
Ethnogenesis and language. The population of the Ancient Northern Sudan has undergone radical changes in the Middle Ages as a result of frequent migrations of the Arabs-nomads and their marriages with the local population. In the north, Islam is a dominant religion, and Arabic is the main language of communication; The Arab roots of the population are generally accepted. In cities and other settlements widespread up to 20 V. The tribal system of organizing the social life of the population is dying or destroyed, but in the conditions of a nomadic lifestyle, it still serves as a unifying factor. The Arabic population is preferably settled and timed to the valleys of rivers and areas where a sufficient amount of precipitation falls out for the cultivation of crops. In addition, nomads, grazing camels and sheeps in the surrounding steppes, are also spoken in Arabic in the surrounding steppes, there are also Arabs-herotes (Bagghar) of South Darfur and Cordo. Some Muslim tribes in the north of the country do not know the Arabic language, it is primarily a cushionic womb on the Red Sea coast, Dongola and other Nubian peoples living in the Nile Valley and Four from Darfur.

Until the middle of the 19th century The territory of Sudan south of 12 ° S.D. Not exposed to the invasion of Arabs or Arabiced northern peoples. Until now, the local population has not adopted Islam. In ethnically, it belongs to several groups and speaks in different languages. The main groups of the population of South Sudan - Nub, engaged in agriculture on the slopes of the South Corradoyan; Shillauk, which live in the White Nile Valley and are managed by very revered leaders; The numerous Dink tribes that graze cattle on the plains east of the White Nile and in the valley of the R. El Gazal, as well as Azande, living in the mountains on the Nile Machine and Congo.
In Sudan there is a slight number of foreigners. The Greeks and to a lesser extent of Armenians, Indians and Yemenians control a significant part of the city retailers. Muslim-immigrants from countries located to the west of Sudan, primarily from Nigeria, constitute the main workforce on cotton plantations in El Gezire (Meternrarchye of the White and Blue Nile). In the field of foreign trade, technology and higher education, the role of Europeans is great (mainly the British), but they rarely live in the country constantly. The state language is Arabic, English is quite widespread, the educated part of the population of the south is sometimes used by it as a means of interethnic communication.
Religion. Although all Arab migrants were Muslims, the planting of Islamic culture in North Sudan, related to 15-17 centuries, has occurred thanks to the efforts of Muslim missionaries and Sudanese who studied in Egypt or Arabia. These people were members of the religious orders (Tarika), and the Sudanese version of Islam was characterized by the devotion of ordinary Muslims by the head of the Order and commitment to the ascetic lifestyle. At the beginning of the 19th century. A new religious direction of Hatmium has been formed, in which the influence of the descendants of its founder Mirgia is still maintained. In the period of the Turkish-Egyptian rule at 19 V. Contacts between Sudanese and more orthodox and stentest Egyptian Islam. In 1881, the Messianic movement of the Sudanese religious reformer Mohammed Ahmed, who declared himself Mahdi (a Messiah, announced the shoot of the Prophet's coming) and called for the struggle for the restoration of True Islam. His followers became called Anseara (by the name of the dervish orders created by them). In today's Sudan, Ansar and Hatmium are the most influential religious sects, Ansar prevails in the western part of the country and in areas along the shores of White Nile, Hatmium - in the north and east of the country. As a rule, both sects play an important role in the political life of Sudan.
The arrival of Arabs gradually reduced the influence of Christianity, the religion of medieval Nubia, the state in the Nile Valley. At 19 in. On the territory of Sudan, several Catholic missions have also operated, which without much success led religious propaganda among the pagan population. During the English-Egyptian condominium (1899-1955), in accordance with the orders of the British administration, the activities of Christian religious missions were permitted only in the southern part of the country, and Catholic and Protestant missionaries acted in strictly defined areas. In 1964, the Government of Sudan expelled all foreign missionaries from the country. Although such a decision was taled by a serious threat to the livelihoods of local Christian churches, since it made it difficult to arrive new priests and gave a new impetus to the Islamization of southern regions, by this time Christianity in the south was already so deeply rooted that it allowed him not only to survive, but also to strengthen Support for local authorities.
Cities. Pretty dense cones, including Khartoum, Omdurman and North Khartoum, was formed in the area of \u200b\u200bthe merge of the Blue and White Nile. All these three cities are very different from each other. Khartoum was created at 19 V. As the administrative center of the Turkish-Egyptian administration and maintained this function during the Anglo-Egyptian condominium. Hartum is the most European city, different from other cities of Sudan. Omdurman, the former capital of the Majdist state, despite some modernization, still retains a typical Sudanese appearance. Northern Khartoum, which emerged in the 20th century. As a final item spent from the North of the Railway, it is largely associated with the service of this road and the river port. In 1998, the total population of Kharthum, North Khartoum and Omdurman was approx. 4 million people, while his good half was refugees who left the southern regions due to war, and residents of other districts wishing to improve their financial situation. The development of the network of modern communications is obliged to their appearance such cities like Atbara (85 thousand inhabitants in 1998), located at the intersection of paths from the north and from the coast of the Red Sea, bones (100 thousand), which grew up at the intersection of the White Nile with the railway, and Port Sudan (310 thousand) on the coast of the Red Sea. According to their importance, they ousted the ancient center of the caravan ways of Berber, the former River Pier Ed Dwayim and the Almost Abandoned Sea Port of Sucin, who played an important role in the times of Turkish domination. Other cities of the country combine administrative and economic functions; So, WAD-MEDANI (230 thousand inhabitants in 1998) is the center of the Cotton District of El Gezir; El Obeid (250 thousand) is the main market of Gumiarabic and Kassala (250 thousand, 1998) - cotton growing. All these cities are also local administrative centers. In the southern part of the country there were 20 V. As administrative centers, the largest of them are Juba (20 thousand inhabitants in 1998).
Voluntary associations. The oldest voluntary associations of North Sudan are Muslim spiritual orders, some of them originated in 15-16 centuries. Some of them are branches of religious fractors common throughout the Muslim world, others are purely local education. Muslim spiritual orders are based on numerous local cells and are controlled by the hierarchy of spiritual leaders who are subject to the Supreme Sheikh. Although the families chaired by the families of Mirgani and Mahdi sects of Ansar and Hatmium in the full sense and are not spiritual orders, they are organized on the same principles and play a similar role in the life of the Sudanese Muslim society. Original orders were the union of zealous followers of Allah, striving through collective prayers under the guidance of those who are attached to secret knowledge, find the mystical path of penetration into Islam. Currently, they are carriers of a peculiar emotional "reviving" folk religion, which is perceived by more educated or orthodox sundans with a well-known fraction of distrust and skepticism.
Strengthened contacts with Egypt and Western countries led to a number of associations characteristic of the countries of the Middle East and Europe, in particular, literary and sports clubs, cooperatives and trade unions. Such associations began to be created in the last years of condominium existence, and based on their political and social factors rather than economic and social factors.
State system and politics
Government. Since the time of unification in 19 V. Regions that make up the current territory of Sudan, the traditions of an authoritarian, centralized and bureaucratic method of managing the country are preserved. In practice, this system undergoes a change due to a number of factors characteristic of Sudan: the presence of a huge area in the absence of adequate means of communication, the diversity of the ethnic composition of the population and the continuing intergovernmental hostility. During the period of Turkish-Egyptian domination, the top of the administrative apparatus was formed from the Numbers of the Ottoman Empire, mainly the Egyptians. After the formation of the Majdist state, the key posts in the Office moved to Sudanese-Northerners from Prinylian districts, and during the reign of Khalifa Abdullahi (1885-1898) - to his tribesmen of Baggar. During the existence of the condominium, the initial positions were originally held by the British, but then the number of official-Sudanese officials gradually grew. British officials carried out control over the country's rural areas through the system of traditional power and breeding leaders. After the conquest of independence, the northern Sudanese was invariably in the fodder.
On the eve of the conquest of independence in 1956, a system of state power was already developed in the form of a parliamentary and the Cabinet of Ministers led by the Prime Minister. The first step was to form the Advisory Council of Northern Sudan in 1944. In 1948, the creation of the Legislative Assembly was followed, which included representatives of both the northern and southern regions, and in 1954 - the first in the history of the country of the two-charted parliament, most of whose deputies were elected during direct Elections.
During the condominium period, all power focused in the hands of the Governor's General, in which the Council of High-ranking officials-British was functioning from 1910. In 1948, this body was replaced by the Executive Board, which included ministers-Sudanese. After the creation of the Parliament, the executive powers of the Governor's General almost completely transferred to the Cabinet of Ministers consisting of Sudanesents, accountable to the Legislative Body. With the proclaiming of independence, the remains of the authorities preserved from the Governor general were transferred to the Supreme Commission, which consisted of five Sudanents.
After the military coup in November 1958, the Constitution was suspended and the activities of parliament and political organizations were prohibited. As a result of folk performances in October 1964, civilian rule was restored in the country, and in 1965, parliament resumed its work. But in May 1969, a military coup again happened, the effect of the Constitution and the activities of the Parliament were suspended, and political organizations dissolved. Consisting of ten members, the revolutionary council, headed by Jafar Al-Siemery, took over the functions of the highest authority. In 1972, Al-Siemery dismissed the revolutionary council and published a constitution in 1973, providing for the restoration of the presidential post with broad powers and the creation of folk councils. In 1985, the Government of Al-Sayeri was overthrown during the new military coup, and the government went to another military council.
After the elections 1986, parliamentary democracy was restored in Sudan, and the government headed Sadyk Al-Mahdi. The government took several unsuccessful attempts to agree on the termination of the Civil War in the south of Sudan. The failures of Sadyk Al-Mahdi in this direction, as well as the deterioration of the economic situation in the country predetermined the success of the military coup in June 1989, led by Umar Hassan Al-Bashir. As the head of the revolutionary guideline of national salvation, Al-Bashir canceled the effect of the Constitution, as well as the activities of the National Assembly, trade unions and all political organizations. The actions of the new leadership of Sudan used unconditional support from the National Islamic Front. In 1993, the Governing Revolutionary Council was replaced by the Civil Government, which was still headed by Al-Bashir and which continued to be influenced by Islamic fundamentalists. In the presidential election, the 1996 al-Bashir won the unconditional victory. In the same year, elections to the National Assembly were held. In a situation where all other political organizations were banned, candidates from the National Islamic Front easily defeated. One of the achievements of the legislature was the preparation of the text of the new Constitution, which was adopted in 1998.
Political parties. 1989 Military coup 1989 The leading political parties of Sudan were represented by the Unionist-Democratic Party, the Sudanese Communist Party, the Al-Umma Party, the traditional Majdist Party, created in 1945, and near the few parties of South Sudan. The most influential of them were the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (Snod) and his military wing of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SNOE). This grouping led by John Garag de Mabior originated in 1983 on the wave of resistance to Al-Nimeyri politics aimed at introducing new administrative division in the south of the country. Over the years, the activities of the Snor have limited the limits of South Sudan, but in 1995, opposed al-Bashir and the National Islamic Front, Garag, together with a number of political leaders of the North, formed a coalition called National Democratic Union (VAT). It includes such influential opposition political parties as Al-Umma and the Unionist-Democratic Party. Other political groups of the south - the front of the liberation of South Sudan and the defensive forces of South Sudan, although they opposed the government in Khartoum, nevertheless abstained from entering VAT. Traditionally, political organizations in Sudan expressed their personal loyalty and ambitions rather than political principles. The exception was created in 1944 Sudanese Communist Party.
Judicial system. In 1983, Al-Nimeyri replaced all the existing legal laws by the Muslim laws of Sharia, based on the Quran. They included such types of punishments as clipping hand and legs, as well as throwing stones. In 1986, Shariyat laws were canceled, and a judicial system based on the civil code of the Anglo-Indian sample was temporarily restored. In 1991, there was a return to Islamic legislation, which caused discontent and resistance from the part of Christians, as well as the population of the southern regions of the country, which adhere to traditional local beliefs.
Armed forces. Until 1924, Sudanese troops were part of the Armed Forces of Egypt, then called the defensive forces of Sudan and under the command of British officers were purely Sudanese military divisions. In 1954, the British were dismissed from officers, and the Armed Forces of the country received the name of the Sudanese army. In 1998, Sudan had a few more than 100 thousand people with armed forces and could quickly mobilize tens of thousands of members of the folk defense forces - police parts subordinated to the National Islamic Front. Modern types of weapons Sudan received from Libya, Iraq and China.
Local governments. After the Second World War, the process of replacing the British district commissars, endowed with broad powers, local councils with territorial, and not tribal jurisdiction. A system for the appointment of local government inspectors was introduced, to which many administrative functions of district commissioners were transferred. The rights of the provincial governors were also cut off. After 1958, the military regime tried to strengthen the role of the provinces, for this purpose, provincial advice were created, which included elected and appointed members headed by the appointed head of the Council. In addition, the local provincial executive body was formed, and each province had its own budget. But in practice, the work of the Soviets proceeded extremely sluggish, and after the 1964 revolution they almost ceased to function. The resumption in the 1980s of the Civil War and the desire of the National Islamic Front to the centralization of the country in the 1990s led to a reduction in the authorities of local governments.
Foreign policy. In the period 1967-1971, significant assistance came to Sudan from the USSR and Eastern Europe. During the President of Al-Siemery, the strengthening of ties with the West began. A military coup 1989 led to the establishment of close relations with Libya, which negatively affected the relations with the countries of the West. After the visit of Iran Rafsanzhani's visit to Sudan in December 1991, many Western and moderate Arab states turned their relations with Sudan, because he was blocked with states professing Islamic fundamentalism. Sudan himself refused to receive assistance from the United States, stating that the Americans use it to exercise spy activities. The main area of \u200b\u200bactivity in the Sudan International Organizations, in particular the UN, during this period there were delivery of humanitarian food aid to the starving population of the southern regions of the country.
See further