Sudan

= Sudan = ==The flag of Sudan - Red stands for struggle and the martyrs of the Sudan and the Great Arab Land, White stands for Islam, peace, optimism, light and love, Black stands for Sudan, and Green stands for prosperity, good, and agriculture. ==

The area of Sudan has been around since 8 million BC and was inhabited by people of Neotholic Culture who lived in mud brick villiages.
== North Sudan's earliest written records came from the Egyptians because back then Sudan and Egypt were combined politically. After gaining independence from Egypt in 1956, Sudan went through a 17 year civil war called the First Sudanese Civil War, and afterwards there were sill conflicts between Muslim/Arab Northern Sudanese and the Animist/Christian Southern Sudanese. This lead to the 2nd civil war in 1983. After, Sudan was seized by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who proclaimed himself president of Sudan. The end of the war had a Comprehensive Peace agreement- this allowed the southern region to govern itself,and on July 9, 2011, Southern Sudan seceded. ==

Conflict
== In 1970s some clashes occurred in Darfur ( a region in western Sudan) with Janjaweed, armed men appointed by the government to stop disputes between the Darfur tribes. According to the U.S. Government, these Janjaweeds have been engaging in genocide. The fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of them seeking refuge in Chad, a neighboring country. Sudan and Chad later declared war in 2003. ==

Now...
== Many of the conflicts that were going on in the past still occur today. There was a peace agreement signed by the Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Sudanese Government in 2006, but since then there has been more violence throughout the region. Recent fighting among the Chad border has left many solders and rebels dead. Because of this a quarter of a million refugees have been cut off from aid and so around 80 infants die a day in the Darfur area from malnutrition. There is still much hunger in Darfur that is concerning many developed countries in the world. == "A letter dated 14 August 2006, from the executive director of Human Rights Watch found that the Sudanese government is both incapable of protecting its own citizens in Darfur and unwilling to do so, and that its militias are guilty of crimes against humanity . The letter added that these human-rights abuses have existed since 2004. Some reports attribute part of the violations to the rebels as well as the government and the Janjaweed. The U.S. State Department's human-rights report issued in March 2007 claims that "//a//ll parties to the conflagration committed serious abuses, including widespread killing of civilians, systematic torture, robbery and recruitment of child soldiers."" ~Wikepidia(Sudan Human Rights) ====

[[image:http://www.mapsofworld.com/sudan/maps/sudan-location-map.jpg width="639" height="375"]]

 * NOTE: Sudan's location is responsible for it going to war with Chad.

Major export: OIL (China-40%)
== -In 2010 Sudan was considered one of the fastest economically growing countries in the world and started to dig itself out of the hole that is it's bad economy. They were fine until the secession of Southern Sudan. Southern Sudan controlled over 80% of Sudans oilfields, so the economical future for the rest of Sudan relies on the main source of income for this region. Sudan has a very weak economy. == == - mineral resources are available in Sudan including: natural gas, gold, silver, chromite, asbestos, maganese, gypsum, mica, zinc, iron, lead, uranium, copper, kaolin, cobalt, granite, nickel, tin and aluminum. ==

== Now that Southern Sudan has seceded, Sudan has fewer trading partners because before, many countries relied on Sudan for oil because that was it's major export, but now they have to rely on Southern Sudan. ==

Culture:
== A traditional clothing item worn widely in Sudan is the jalabiya, which is a loose-fitting, long-sleeved, collarless ankle-length garment also common to Egypt. The jalabiya is worn with a large scarf for a man, and the garment may be white, colored, striped, and made of fabric varying in thickness, depending on the season of the year and personal preferences. ==

== On Ethnicity: Sudan has over 200 ethnic groups speaking 900 languages. The largest of these ethnic groups are the Sudanese Arabs, who's migration into Sudan in the 12th century has caused the Arabic language and culture to be predominant in Sudan. Most Sudanese people speak more than one language, and often forget their native language when they move to a different area with a different dominant language. ==