Sudan Almanac

The handbook offers a concise introduction to all aspects of the country, rooted in a broad historical account of the development of the Sudanese state. --from publisher description

In 1904, only the unimposing tomb of a local holy man occupied the site chosen by British officials for the construction of a modern seaport to facilitate the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan's expanded commerce. Built where no urban center had previously existed, Port Sudan was the quintessential colonial city, created and designed by Europeans, who organized its municipal services and devised the regulations for its day-to-day management. The advantages of a created city were clear: The colonial government did not need to accommodate an indigenous urban population with its own existing social structures, institutions, and cultural values. This study examines the efforts of Port Sudan's builders and early administrators to tailor the urban environment to their own notions of the ideal colonial city–how it should look, how it should function, and how its human components should interact. It then focuses on the inter-war period, describing how the rapid growth of Port Sudan and its harbor posed insurmountable challenges to the maintenance of this ideal. Although the Sudanese population within the city steadily increased, their exclusion from any meaningful participation in municipal affairs during these troubled years left them physically and psychologically isolated. The situation began to change after World War II, but, as the study reveals, conditions in the post-war era only compounded long-standing political, economic, and social problems in Port Sudan, ensuring that the city the Sudanese inherited in 1956 still bore the marks of its colonial origins.

This book provides an overview of contemporary issues in Sudan, Africa's largest nation, examining the country's history and current scene to help readers develop a deeper understanding of how much Sudan matters in today's world. With deep connections to the Sahel and savanna to the west, the African world to the south, the Horn of Africa to the east, and the Middle East to the north, Sudan is important strategically, legally, geopolitically, and militarily—but too often overlooked, or underestimated. Sudan, the country of residence of Osama bin Laden for six years, has played, and will continue to play, a significant role in worldwide security matters. An analysis of the causes, resolutions, and implications of the ongoing Sudanese conflicts (including the genocide in Darfur), this book is essential reading for policymakers, researchers, and students alike. This book considers Sudan's historical foundations, examining how the agendas of countries to the south, east, and north have influenced Sudan's people and government. The author also explains the origins and context of the Darfur conflict, laying out possible steps toward a resolution. Questions concerning Sudanese oil—where is it? how much is there? to whom does it belong?—help focus any discussion of Sudan's emerging importance in the contemporary world. Other issues—such as the influence of Islamism or the Sudanese activities of the Arab League, China, or the African Union—underline the uncertainties that confront the people of Sudan today.