Sudan

Where the name comes from

Sudan comes from Arabic bilād al-Sūdān, “land of the Black people”, once used for the wide Sahel region south of the Sahara.

First people

Ancient Nubian kingdoms such as Kush linked the Nile with northeastern Africa.¹

Known for

Sudan is known as the meeting place of the Blue Nile and White Nile, which join at Khartoum to form the Nile.²

Outside contact

Egypt conquered the region in 1820–1821, and joint British–Egyptian rule was set up in 1899.^3,4,5,6

The modern country

Sudan became independent in 1956, and South Sudan broke away in 2011 after decades of civil war. A new war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, causing mass displacement and hunger.³