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Sudan - Geography & environment
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A desert landscape in northern Sudan
Photo:Toby Adamson/Oxfam |
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Geography
Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It borders nine countries
– Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya – and has
a coastline on the Red Sea in the north-east.
The country is mostly a vast plain, broken by several mountain
ranges; the Jebel Marra in western Sudan is the highest range, but
the highest mountain is Mount Kinyeti Imatong, near the border with
Uganda. The Blue and White Niles meet in Khartoum to form the Nile,
which flows northwards through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
The environment
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Children walking to school through lush
forest in the south of Sudan
Photo: Jenny Matthews/Oxfam |
Sudan’s rainy season lasts for about three months (July to
September) in the north, and up to six months (June to November)
in the south. The amount of rainfall increases the further south
you go, from the very dry Nubian desert in the north to swamps and
rainforest in the south. The dry regions are plagued by sand-storms,
known as haboob, which can completely block out the sun.
In the northern and western semi-desert areas, people rely on the
scant rainfall for basic agriculture and many are nomadic, travelling
with their herds of sheep and camels. Nearer the Nile, there are
well-irrigated farms growing cash crops.
During 1984/85, there was a severe drought and crop-failure in
the west of the country, which came to world-wide attention through
media coverage and the Band Aid fund-raising initiative.
Introduction ||
History || Geography
& Environment
People & Society || Factfile
|| Oxfam in Sudan ||
Other resources
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