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Sudan
The Society and its Environment
THE FIRST AND OVERWHELMING impression of Sudan is its physical
vastness and ethnic diversity, elements that have shaped its regional
history from time immemorial. The country encompasses virtually
every geographical feature, from the harsh deserts of the north
to the rain forests rising on its southern borders. Like most
African countries, Sudan is defined by boundaries that European
powers determined at the end of the nineteenth century. The British
colonial administration in Sudan, established in 1899, emphasized
indirect rule by tribal shaykhs (see Glossary) and chiefs, although
tribalism had been considerably weakened as an administrative
institution during the Mahdist period (1884- 98). This loosening
of loyalties exacerbated problems in governmental structure and
administration and in the peoples' identification as Sudanese.
To this day, loyalty remains divided among family, clan, ethnic
group, and religion, and it is difficult to forge a nation because
the immensity of the land permits many of Sudan's ethnic and tribal
groups to live relatively undisturbed by the central government.
The Nile is the link that runs through Sudan, and influences
the lives of Sudan's people, even though many of them farm and
herd far from the Nile or its two main tributaries, the Blue Nile
and the White Nile. Not only do nomads come to the river to water
their herds and cultivators to drain off its waters for their
fields, but the Nile facilitates trade, administration, and urbanization.
Consequently, the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile
became the administrative center of a vast hinterland because
the area commanded the river, its commerce, and its urban society.
This location enabled the urban elites to control the scattered
and often isolated population of the interior while enjoying access
to the peoples of the outside world.
Although linked by dependence on the Nile, Sudan's population
is divided by ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences. Many
Sudanese in the north claim Arab descent and speak Arabic, but
Sudanese Arabs are highly differentiated. Over many generations,
they have intermingled in varying degrees with the indigenous
peoples. Arabic is Sudan's official language (with Arabic and
English the predominant languages in the south), but beyond Khartoum
and its two neighboring cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North
a variety of languages is spoken. A more unifying factor is Islam,
which has spread widely among the peoples of northern Sudan. But,
once again, the Sunni (see Glossary) Muslims of northern Sudan
form no monolithic bloc. Some, especially in the urban centers,
are strictly orthodox Muslims, while others, mostly in the rural
areas, are attracted more to Sufism, an Islamic mystical tendency,
in their search for Allah. Within this branch and tendency of
Islam are a host of religious sects with their own Islamic rituals
and syncretistic adaptations.
The Sudanese of the south are of African origin. Islam has made
only modest inroads among these followers of traditional religions
and of Christianity, which was spread in the twentieth century
by European missionaries, and Arabic has not replaced the diverse
languages of the south. The differences between north and south
have usually engendered hostility, a clash of cultures that in
the last 150 years has led to seemingly endless violence. The
strong regional and cultural differences have inhibited nation
building and have caused the civil war in the south that has raged
since independence, except for a period of peace between 1972
and 1983. The distrust between Sudanese of the north and those
of the south--whether elite or peasants--has deepened with the
long years of hostilities. And the cost of war has drained valuable
national resources at the expense of health, education, and welfare
in both regions.
Data as of June 1991
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