Sudan
the Arab name given to the vast extent of country in Central Africa which lies between the Sahara on the N., Abyssinia and the Red Sea on the E., the countries draining to the Kongo basin on the S., and Senegambia on the W. Its area is estimated at 2,000,000 square miles. Egyptian rule was first extended to the Eastern Sudan in the early part of the 19th century by Mohammed Ali, under whom Ibrahim Pasha carried it as far S. as Kordofan and Senaar.
An Egyptian expedition under Sir Samuel Baker in 1870 led to the conquest of the equatorial regions on the Nile farther S. than the Sudan proper, of which General Gordon was appointed Governor-General in 1874. On the fall of Ismail Pasha of Egypt, Gordon was recalled, and hordes of Turks, Circassians, and Bashi-Bazouks were let loose to plunder the Sudanese. Egyptian misrule then became intolerable, and in this SUDERMANN about 1,400 miles. The northern part includes the Nubian Desert, but mountains are found in the central and extreme southern parts. The flat part of the southern region is composed chiefly of swamps. This section has an enormous rainfall, with only two dry months, November and December. The Nile and its tributaries flow through the entire country, from Lake Albert to Egypt.
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is divided into 13 provinces. The governors are British officers of the Egyptian Army, employed under the Sudan Government, or British civil officials of the government.
The administration is carried on through British inspectors in charge of districts.
In 1910 a governor's council was created to assist the governor-general in the discharge of his duties. The chief towns are Khartum, pop. about 17,000, the capital; Omdurman, pop. about 85,- 000; Khartum North, pop. about 12,000.
The chief products are gum arabic, ivory, cotton, ostrich feathers, dates, hides and skins, and gold. The value of the imports in 1918 amounted to £4,- 024,582, and the exports to £3,923,771.
There is a railroad from Wadi Halfa to Khartum, with a connection with the Red Red Sea at Port Sudan. The total crisis appeared Mohammed Ahmed of length of the line is approximately 1,500 Dongola, who gave himself out to be the Mahdi, the long-expected redeemer of Islam.
The revolt of the Mahdi broke up the Egyptian Sudan into various districts.
After the Mahdi's death the insurrection was continued by one of his lieutenants called the Kalifa. In 1897 the Anglo-Egyptian army commenced operations for the recovery of the lost provinces. In 1898 the territory was practically regained, and the last resistance disappeared when the Kalifa was slain, and his followers made prisoners in 1899.
In 1898, there were strained relations between the Egyptian and the French governments, owing to the presence in the Egyptian Sudan of a French force under Major Marchand. The difficulty was settled by Marchand's evacuation of Fashoda, and by the delimitation of the respective "spheres of influence" of the two g governments, with a mutual agreement not to acquire territory or political influence beyond the designated boundary. See SUDAN, ANGLO-EGYPTIAN.