Sudan (or The Sudan; officially the Republic of the Sudan or Republic of Sudan) is the largest country by area in Africa and the largest Arab country by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. It is the tenth largest country in the world by area.
Long burdened by civil war Africa’s largest country bridges northern and central Africa, including the watersheds of both the Nile and Congo rivers. The northern border of the
Shea zone extends from Sahr in Chad through Birao (Central African Republic) to Sudan at Hofrat en Nahas in Southern Darfur.
Sudan-A Country With Conflict
The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from the tribes of the Abbala (camel-herding Arabs), and the non-Baggara people (mostly land-tilling tribes) of the region. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided arms and assistance and has participated in joint attacks with the group, systematically targeting the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups in Darfur. The conflict began in July 2003. Unlike in the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed. Estimated numbers of deaths in the conflict have ranged from 50,000 (World Health Organization, September 2004) to 450,000 (Dr. Eric Reeves, 28 April 2006). As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced.
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