Sudan (region): Difference between revisions

Sudan
بِلَادُ السُّوْدَان
Sudan; بِلَادُ السُّوْدَان
	An open hay landscape in the northern Gambia
	West Sudanian savanna
Ecology
Borders	Sahara
Geography
Rivers	Chari, Niger, and the White Nile

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Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān (بلاد السودان‎) and arḍ as-sūdān (أَرْض السودان‎), both meaning "the land of the Blacks", referring to West Africa and northern Central Africa.^[1]

History

According to some modern historians, of all the regions of Africa, western Sudan "is the one that has seen the longest development of agriculture, of markets and long-distance trade, and of complex political systems." It is also the first region "south of the Sahara where African Islam took root and flowered."^[2]

Middle Ages

Its medieval history is marked by the caravan trade.^[3] The sultanates of eastern Sudan were Darfur, Bagirmi, Sennar and Wadai. In central Sudan, Kanem–Bornu Empire and the Hausa Kingdoms. To the west were Wagadou, Manden, Songhay and the Mossi. ^[4]^[5]

Slave trade

Early on in the first millennium, many people from the Sudan were used as "a steady stream of slaves for the Mediterranean world" in the Saharan slave trade. With the arrival of the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, "people were directed to the Atlantic slave trade," totaling over a thousand years for the Saharan and four centuries for the Atlantic trades. As a result, slavery critically shaped the institutions and systems of the Sudan. The Portuguese first arrived at Senegambia and found that slavery was "well established" in the region, used to "feed the courts of coastal kings as it was used in the medieval empires of the interior." Between the process of capture, enslavement, and "incorporation into a new community, the slave had neither rights nor any social identity." As a result, the identity of people who were enslaved "came from membership in a corporate group, usually based on kinship."^[6]

Notes

^ International Association for the History of Religions (1959), Numen, Leiden: EJ Brill, p. 131, West Africa may be taken as the country stretching from Senegal in the west, to the Cameroons in the east; sometimes it has been called the central and western Sudan, the Bilad as-Sūdan, 'Land of the Blacks', of the Arabs.
^ Klein 1998, p. 1.
^ Encyclopaedia of Islam IX. pp. 752, 758.
^ Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, volume II. New York: Facts on File, 2005. 2005. p. 211. ISBN 0-8160-5270-0.
^ Gale. New Encyclopedia of Africa, volume 4. Farmington Hills. pp. 752, 758. ISBN 978-0-684-31458-7.
^ Klein 1998, p. 1-2.

References

Klein, Martin A. (1998). Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. Cambridge University Press.
Reader's Digest: Atlas of the World (1991), Rand-McNally, ISBN 0-276-42001-2.

[1] International Association for the History of Religions (1959), Numen, Leiden: EJ Brill, p. 131, West Africa may be taken as the country stretching from Senegal in the west, to the Cameroons in the east; sometimes it has been called the central and western Sudan, the Bilad as-Sūdan, 'Land of the Blacks', of the Arabs.

[2] Klein 1998, p. 1.

[3] Encyclopaedia of Islam IX. pp. 752, 758.

[4] Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, volume II. New York: Facts on File, 2005. 2005. p. 211. ISBN 0-8160-5270-0.

[5] Gale. New Encyclopedia of Africa, volume 4. Farmington Hills. pp. 752, 758. ISBN 978-0-684-31458-7.

[6] Klein 1998, p. 1-2.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Geographical region to the south of the Sahara}}
-{{Distinguish|the Sudans}}
-{{For|the two neighboring countries in [[Northeast Africa]]|Sudan|South Sudan}}
+{{About|the geographical region to the south of the Sahara|the geopolitical region in Northeast Africa|the Sudans|the two neighboring countries in Northeast Africa|Sudan|and|South Sudan}}
-{{For|the geographic features of the Republic of the Sudan|Geography of Sudan}}
 {{Infobox ecoregion
-|name                = Sudan
+|name                = Sudan<br />بِلَادُ السُّوْدَان
 |image               = SudanRegionGambia.jpg
 |image_size          =
@@ Line 41: / Line 40: @@
 }}
-'''Sudan''' is the geographic region to the south of the [[Sahara]], stretching from Western to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the [[Arabic]] ''{{transl|ar|bilād as-sūdān}}'' ({{lang|ar|بلاد السودان}}), or "the lands of the [[Black people|Blacks]]", referring to [[West Africa]] and northern [[Central Africa]].<ref>{{citation | author = International Association for the History of Religions | title = Numen | publisher = EJ Brill | place = Leiden | year = 1959 | page = 131 | quote = West Africa may be taken as the country stretching from Senegal in the west, to the Cameroons in the east; sometimes it has been called the central and western Sudan, the ''Bilad as-Sūdan'', ‘Land of the Blacks’, of the Arabs}}.</ref> The Arabic name was translated as ''[[Negroland]]'' on older English maps.
+'''Sudan''' is the geographical region to the south of the [[Sahara]], stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the [[Arabic]] ''{{transliteration|ar|bilād as-sūdān}}'' ({{lang|ar|{{Script|Arab|بلاد السودان}}}}) and ''{{transliteration|ar|arḍ as-sūdān}}'' ({{lang|ar|{{Script|Arab|أَرْض السودان}}}}), both meaning "the land of the [[Africans|Blacks]]", referring to [[West Africa]] and northern [[Central Africa]].<ref>{{citation | author = International Association for the History of Religions | title = Numen | publisher = EJ Brill | place = Leiden | year = 1959 | page = 131 | quote = West Africa may be taken as the country stretching from Senegal in the west, to the Cameroons in the east; sometimes it has been called the central and western Sudan, the ''Bilad as-Sūdan'', 'Land of the Blacks', of the Arabs}}.</ref>
-Historically, the name was understood to denote the western part of the [[Sahel]] region. It thus roughly encompassed the geographical belt between the Sahara and the [[Guinea (region)|coastal West Africa]].
-In modern usage, the term "Sudan" is also used in a separate context to refer specifically to the geographic region comprising the present-day countries of the [[Sudan]], including its [[Darfur|western region]] which forms a part of the country, and [[South Sudan]], which gained its independence in 2011. In order to avoid confusion, the term "[[the Sudans]]" is fast becoming the preferred option when describing this region.
-== Geography ==
 [[File:AT0705 map.png|thumb|[[East Sudanian savanna]]]]
-Sudan is marked by [[hay]], forest cliffs and [[gallery forest]]s along the rivers. [[Drought]] and livestock [[grazing]] threaten the area with [[desertification]].
-The area is predominantly a [[plateau]] with [[Valley#river valleys|river valleys]] of the [[Niger (river)|Niger]], [[Chad Basin|Chad]] and [[White Nile]].
-Sudan is a transition zone between the Sahelian dry desert climate and the dense humid equatorial rainforest. Average annual temperatures vary between 23 and 29 degrees. Temperatures in the coldest months are above 20 degrees Celsius and over 30 degrees Celsius in the hottest months. Daily temperature fluctuations are up to 10-15 degrees. The summer [[Monsoon#Africa (West African and Southeast African)|monsoon]] brings rain from the equator. Precipitation ranges from 100-200 mm in the north to 1,500-2,000 mm in the south. During the dry winter season, the hot and dry [[Harmattan]] northeasterly wind from the Sahara.
-It extends in some 5,000 km in a band several hundred kilometers wide across Africa. It stretches from the border of [[Senegal]], through southern [[Mali]] (formerly known as [[French Sudan]] when it was a [[list of French possessions and colonies|French colony]]), [[Burkina Faso]], southern [[Niger]], northern [[Nigeria]], northern [[Ghana]], southern [[Chad]], the western [[Darfur]] region of present-day [[Sudan]], and [[South Sudan]].
-To the north of the region lies the [[Sahel]], a more arid [[Acacia]] [[savanna]] region that in turn borders the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]] further north, and to the east the [[Ethiopian Highlands]] (called ''al-Ḥabašah'' in Arabic). In the southwest lies the [[Sudanian Savanna|West Sudanian savanna]], a wetter, [[tropical savanna]] region bordering the [[tropical forest|tropical forests]] of [[West Africa]]. In the center is [[Lake Chad]], and the more fertile region around the lake, while to the south of there are the [[Western High Plateau|highlands]] of [[Cameroon]]. To the southeast is the [[East Sudanian savanna]], another tropical savanna region, bordering the forest of [[Central Africa]]. This gives way further east to the [[Sudd]], an area of tropical [[wetland]] fed by the water of the [[White Nile]].
 == History ==
 According to some modern historians, of all the regions of Africa, western Sudan "is the one that has seen the longest development of agriculture, of markets and long-distance trade, and of complex political systems." It is also the first region "south of the Sahara where African [[Islam]] took root and flowered."<ref>Klein 1998, p. 1.</ref>
 === Middle Ages ===
-Its medieval history is marked by the [[Trans-Saharan trade|caravan trade]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam IX |page=752, 758. }}</ref> The [[sultanate]]s of eastern Sudan were [[Sultanate of Darfur|Darfur]], [[Sultanate of Bagirmi|Bagirmi]], [[Sultanate of Sennar|Sennar]] and [[Wadai Sultanate|Wadai]]. In central Sudan, [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]] and the [[Hausa Kingdoms]]. To the west were [[Wagadou]], [[Manden]], [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]] and the [[Mossi people|Mossi]]. Later, the [[Fula people]] spread to a wide area.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, volume II |publisher=New York: Facts on File, 2005 |page=211 |isbn=0-8160-5270-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gale|title=New Encyclopedia of Africa, volume 4 |publisher=Farmington Hills |page=752, 758 |isbn=978-0-684-31458-7 }}</ref> During the colonization period, [[French Sudan]] was created and [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]] was named after the present Sudanese state.
+Its medieval history is marked by the [[Trans-Saharan trade|caravan trade]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam IX |pages=752, 758 }}</ref> The [[sultanate]]s of eastern Sudan were [[Sultanate of Darfur|Darfur]], [[Sultanate of Bagirmi|Bagirmi]], [[Sultanate of Sennar|Sennar]] and [[Wadai Sultanate|Wadai]]. In central Sudan, [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]] and the [[Hausa Kingdoms]]. To the west were [[Wagadou]], [[Mandé peoples|Manden]], [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]] and the [[Mossi people|Mossi]]. <ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, volume II |year=2005 |publisher=New York: Facts on File, 2005 |page=211 |isbn=0-8160-5270-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gale|title=New Encyclopedia of Africa, volume 4 |publisher=Farmington Hills |pages=752, 758 |isbn=978-0-684-31458-7 }}</ref>
 === Slave trade ===
-Early on in the [[1st millennium|first millennium]], many people from the Sudan were used as "a steady steam of slaves for the Mediterranean world" in the [[Saharan slave trade]]. With the arrival of the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] in the fifteenth century, "people were directed to the [[Atlantic slave trade]]," totaling over a thousand years for the Saharan and four centuries for the Atlantic trades. As a result, slavery critically shaped the institutions and systems of the Sudan. The Portuguese first arrived at [[Senegambia]] and found that slavery was "well established" in the region, used to "feed the courts of coastal kings as it was used in the medieval empires of the interior." Between the process of capture, enslavement, and "incorporation into a new community, the slave had neither rights nor any social identity." As a result, the identity of people who were enslaved "came from membership in a corporate group, usually based on kinship."<ref>Klein 1998, p. 1-2.</ref>
+Early on in the [[1st millennium|first millennium]], many people from the Sudan were used as "a steady stream of slaves for the Mediterranean world" in the [[Saharan slave trade]]. With the arrival of the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] in the fifteenth century, "people were directed to the [[Atlantic slave trade]]," totaling over a thousand years for the Saharan and four centuries for the Atlantic trades. As a result, slavery critically shaped the institutions and systems of the Sudan. The Portuguese first arrived at [[Senegambia]] and found that slavery was "well established" in the region, used to "feed the courts of coastal kings as it was used in the medieval empires of the interior." Between the process of capture, enslavement, and "incorporation into a new community, the slave had neither rights nor any social identity." As a result, the identity of people who were enslaved "came from membership in a corporate group, usually based on kinship."<ref>Klein 1998, p. 1-2.</ref>
 == See also ==
@@ Line 77: / Line 60: @@
 == Notes ==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
 == References ==
 * Klein, Martin A. (1998). ''Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa''. Cambridge University Press.
-* ''[[Readers Digest]]: Atlas of the World'', (1991) Rand-McNally {{ISBN|0-276-42001-2}}
+* ''[[Reader's Digest]]: Atlas of the World'' (1991), Rand-McNally, {{ISBN|0-276-42001-2}}.
 {{Regions of Africa}}
+{{Authority control}}
 [[Category:Regions of Africa]]
@@ Line 97: / Line 81: @@
 [[Category:Geography of South Sudan]]
 [[Category:Geography of Sudan]]
-[[Category:Divided regions]]
-[[Category:Historical regions]]

v t e Regions of Africa
Central	Guinea region Gulf of Guinea Cape Lopez Mayombe Igboland Mbaise Pool Malebo Congo Basin Chad Basin Cameroonian Highlands forests East Sudanian savanna Congolian rainforests Ouaddaï highlands Ennedi Plateau
East	African Great Lakes Albertine Rift East African Rift Great Rift Valley Gregory Rift Rift Valley lakes Virunga Mountains Kavirondo Zanj East African montane forests Eastern Arc Mountains Serengeti Horn of Africa Afar Triangle Al-Habash Barbaria Danakil Alps Danakil Desert Ethiopian Highlands Dahlak Archipelago Hanish Islands Gulf of Aden Gulf of Tadjoura Red Sea Indian Ocean islands Comoro Islands Lamu Archipelago Madagascar Central Highlands Northern Highlands Zanzibar Archipelago Swahili coast
North	Eastern Desert Maghreb Ancient Libya Atlas Mountains Barbary Coast Gibraltar Arc Ifriqiya Nile Valley Nile Delta Bashmur Cataracts of the Nile Darfur Lower Egypt Lower Nubia Middle Egypt Nile Delta Nuba Mountains Nubia The Sudans Upper Egypt Tibesti Mountains Western Sahara
South	Rhodesia North South Thembuland Succulent Karoo Nama Karoo Bushveld Maputaland Highveld Fynbos Indian Ocean coastal belt Albany thickets Cape Floristic Region Skeleton Coast Kalahari Desert Okavango Delta Cape Peninsula False Bay
West	Pepper Coast Gold Coast Slave Coast Ivory Coast Cape Palmas Cape Mesurado Guinea region Guinean Forests of West Africa Upper Guinean forests Lower Guinean forests Guinean forest-savanna mosaic Guinea Highlands Gulf of Guinea Dahomey Gap Niger Basin Niger Delta Inner Niger Delta West Sudanian savanna Yorubaland
Macro-regions	Aethiopia Afromontane Arab world Commonwealth realm Equatorial Africa Françafrique Greater Middle East Guineo-Congolian region Islands of Africa List of countries where Arabic is an official language Mediterranean basin MENASA Middle East Middle East and North Africa Miombo woodlands Mittelafrika Negroland Northeast Africa Portuguese-speaking African countries Sahara Sahel Southeast Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Sudan (region) Sudanian savanna Tropical Africa Zambezian region