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An ancient Sudanese proverb says that when Allah created Sudan, he laughed in delight. In recent years, there has been little in this harsh, beautiful land to make anyone smile.

Although droughts plague its desert regions, Sudan has remained embroiled in one of the longest-running wars in the world—a civil war that has brought bloodshed, chaos and famine to the country, off and on, for more than 40 years. The White and Blue Nile Rivers join together amicably at Khartoum, its capital, but everything else in the country seems prone to bitter separation—the Arab Islamic north from the black Christian/animist south, the southern tribal factions from each other.

The statistics from the war are heartbreaking: 2 million dead, and virtually the entire population of southern Sudan (approximately 6 million people) displaced from their homes. Yet, just as the war between the north and south of Sudan ended, a new war broke out in the northwestern Darfur region. Needless to say, until the fighting is over, travel in this region should be left to war correspondents or workers with relief agencies. What makes the current situation particularly sad is that in past trips we have found the Sudanese to be among the most cordial and open people in the world.

Geography

History

The nation's history is both fascinating and terrible. In ancient times Cush (northern Sudan) was a subject state of Egypt, but it successfully rebelled in the eighth century BC (Cush actually ruled the length of the Nile for a short period). Cush then divided into a collection of small, independent nations, a situation that remained until Egypt, with the help of the British, invaded and unified the north in 1820.

A religious leader calling himself the Mahdi (or "expected one") unified the south in 1881 and then turned his attention northward. By 1885, his army had besieged Khartoum, the British-controlled capital of Sudan. Relief forces were rushed in to help lift the siege, but they arrived three days too late: They were greeted by the decapitated head of the defending general, Charles Gordon, mounted on the gates of the city. Mahdi had taken Khartoum and unified Sudan. The Islamic leader controlled the state until 1898, when Anglo-Egyptian forces under Gen. Herbert Kitchener swept across the country, securing Sudan for the British.

By the time Sudan gained its independence in 1956, a civil war had already begun to develop between the north and the south. At the root of the conflict were religious, racial, political and economic tensions. The war ended in 1972 with an accord ensuring southerners more economic and political autonomy. Eleven years of peace followed. War erupted again in 1983 when the government, which had come to power in a military coup, organized the south into three administrative regions and imposed sharia (Islamic law) throughout the entire country. Many southerners, including a new alliance calling itself the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), regarded these moves as threats to political power in the less-developed south. The south has plenty of natural resources—including oil, which was discovered in the marshlands of the Upper Nile in 1978—and arable land and is a potential breadbasket that could feed the entire country.

The current war was further complicated in 1991 when a group broke away from the SPLA to form a new faction now known as the Southern Sudanese Independence Movement (SSIM). The split, which occurred along ethnic lines, resulted in fighting between the two groups and intensified the effects of a famine. The outcome was death for thousands of civilians, many of them children. The situation has also been complicated by intervention from bordering countries, particularly Eritrea.

In the north, any pretense of democracy was eliminated in late 1999 when President Omar Hassan al-Bashir disbanded parliament, declared a state of emergency and instituted martial law.

In 2002, a cease-fire was declared between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Despite the government's agreement to share power for six years with the SPLA, fighting on both sides continued. In May 2004, a new deal between the government and the SPLA was signed which finally brought an end to more than 20 years of brutal civil war.

However, just as one war ended another war intensified in the northwestern Darfur region. In an effort to quell a rebellion in Darfur in January 2004, the government allowed pro-government Arab militias called the Janjaweed to carry out massacres against black villagers and rebel groups in the region. Then in late September 2004 the government reported foiling what it called a coup attempt launched by followers of jailed Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi. More than a dozen members of Turabi's opposition Popular Congress Party were arrested and charged with subversion and trafficking in arms with a neighboring country (likely a reference to Eritrea).

Human Rights Watch issued a report in April 2004 citing ongoing daily atrocities by government-backed Arab militias against civilians in the western Darfur region. The United Nations maintains that some 70,000 have been killed in the conflict, and the Security Council twice has warned the government that it must halt such acts or face sanctions against Sudan's oil industry.

Snapshot

Sudan's foremost attractions are the merging of the Blue Nile and White Nile Rivers; tribal, desert and Muslim culture; game parks; ancient ruins; and snorkeling.

We cannot recommend travel to Sudan at this time. When the situation improves, only flexible, adventurous travelers with experience in developing countries should consider visiting. Travelers should realize they will be exposed to extreme poverty. Those who can't tolerate schedule changes and less-than-ideal food and accommodations should not even consider Sudan.

Potpourri

Sudan supplies more than 70% of the world's gum arabic, a crucial ingredient in soft drinks, pharmaceuticals and other products.

In Darfur, schoolteachers ride camels to reach more than 3,000 nomadic students in the area.

Inflation is so high in Sudan that bag sellers do a brisk business hawking specially designed money bags in front of Khartoum's banks. It takes bundles of Sudanese pounds to pay for just about anything.

Mount Kinyeti (10,620 ft/3,237 m), located in the Imatong mountains in the extreme south of the country, is Sudan's highest point.

In 1898, as a young officer, Winston Churchill rode in the British Empire's last mass cavalry charge at Omdurman.

Remember that the Nile flows south to north: The Upper Nile region refers to the southern, or upstream, portion of the river. The Lower Nile is the northern, or downstream, part.

One of the world's largest swamps is the Sudd (Arabic for "obstacle")—which covers 12,000 sq mi/31,080 sq km (roughly the size of England). The Sudd, which is home to a breathtaking array of birds and other wildlife, begins 100 mi/160 km from Juba and extends northward some 430 mi/690 km towards Malakal.

Only about 40% of the people in Sudan are Arabs.

Women are not allowed to attend sporting events such as soccer matches, and Khartoum has banned the mixing of the sexes in public, though Christians are exempt.