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| SUDAN |
Africa covers 6 per cent of the surface of the Earth and provides 20.4 per cent of Earth’s landmass. Occupying this massive and significant territory there are 1.1 Billion people. Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent on Earth.
SUDAN
The very location of the former Sudan suggests trouble : there can be few countries with such volatile borders - to the North West Libya, to the North Egypt to the East, the Red Sea, Eritrea and Ethiopia, to the South Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,to the South West the Central African Republic and to the West Chad! But as if having nine counties often in turmoil on her borders were not enough trouble, Sudan herself has been ravaged by civil war for nearly 50 years and has only in more recent times been divided into two countries Sudan and South Sudan at a democratic referendum.
Sudan
Sudan proper , that is the Northern half, is the 16th largest country in the world and has a population estimated at 37.29 millions - the 35th largest in the world. 97% of the population is Mohammedan and the remainder is Coptic, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. The official languages are Arabic and English.
Membership of the United Nations, the African Union ,the Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement and observer status at the World Trade Organisation make the country seem quite normal. However Membership of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, the fact that the legal system is based on Islamic Law , a poor Human Rights record especially regarding ethnic cleansing and slavery (!) reveal a darker picture.
The Capital is Khartoum, which conjures up British colonial images of "Chinese" Gordon and his death fighting the forces of the Mahdi. This fighting was inspired by the Mahdi's opposition to European efforts to wipe out slavery. Sudan claims much older origins, going back to the Nubians and Upper Egypt of around 3,000 B.C. Sudan was a Christian country by A.D. 600 but as the newly-invented Mohammedan project grew more and more bloodily aggressive, it became Mohammedan by A.D. 700. In 1821, after centuries of various forms of primitive rule, Sudan was to fall under the control of Egypt. The Egyptian control was administratively heavy and there was continuing intermittent resistance.They introduced systematic Mohammedan religious instruction and built numerous mosques. The main trade in Sudan was slavery and this was entirely to the Egyptians' satisfaction.But under European pressure it was gradually suppressed in the 1860s. In 1899 England and Egypt reached an agreement which effectively made Sudan a British Colony with a Governor General appointed by Egypt subject to British consent.The British systematically sought to frustrate any union of Sudan and Egypt.
In World War II Sudanese forces served with the British in a variety of campaigns in North Africa . British policy was to run Sudan via a Northern Mohammedan region and a Southern Christian region.In 1956, after a polling process, the British and Egyptians both gave up their claims to sovereignty and Sudan became independent. However in 1969 there was a military coup and the Parliament and political parties were abolished. But in 1971 Communist elements in the Army led a further coup - but this lasted only days before an anti-Communist group in the Army displaced them. From then for about 10 years, there was a virtual hiatus in the North vs South civil war.
In 1989 Mohammedan elements in the Army led another coup, suspending political parties and introducing an Islamic Legal Code. There was a purge and executions of opposing military leaders and banning of independent newspapers and jailing of leading political figures and journalists.The next years were turbulent with Mohammedan fundamentalism on the rise.War broke out along the 1,000km border with Chad between 2005 and 2007.The hostilities in the Darfur area were so intense as to make the hitherto obscure name a major news item around the world. 2.8 Million civilians were displaced and 300,000 people were said to have been killed in the course of the trouble.
The latest stage in the country's evolution was the division establishing South Sudan.
SOUTH SUDAN
The Republic of South Sudan was established in 2011 when its separation from Sudan was achieved following a referendum. The country has an estimated population of 8,000,000 which would make it the 94th largest country in the world. It has an area ranking 42nd largest in the world. Since independence a bloody civil war has broken out between ethnic Dinka and Nuer peoples. President Kiir's Dinka people have the support of Government forces which have also been aided by Ugandan troops. It is said that up to 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting, 1,000,000 displaced and 400,000 have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.There have been moves toward a federal structure to try to heal the troubles.
The official language of South Sudan is English.
Like so many other aspects of South Sudanese life it seems, the religion of the people is a subject difficult to determine for certain. Broadly speaking the religions followed seem to be indigenous " animist", Christian, and Mohammedan. The variation in claimed percentages of each is verging on the insane. Some U.S. Government sources say that Christianity is only 10% (Library of Congress) others a substantial minority (State Dept.) While the Pew Research Center says 60.5 % are Christians, 32.9 % Animist and 6.2 % Mohammedan. The World Christian Encyclopedia says there are 2,700,000 Catholics which is 33% of the population.
South Sudan has placed heavy reliance on oil exports, developed with Chinese assistance, to fund up to 98% of its budget. The oil has to traverse a pipeline through Sudan and this has caused disagreements over costs of pipeline use.The IMF is anxious over the decline in reserves which are expected to halve by 2020.
More than half the population does not have access to improved water supply. Health indicators are seriously adverse with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world : 2,053.9 per 100,000 live births.The equivalent figure in Australia is.....5 per 100,000... 5! Infant mortality is 69.97 per 1,000 well below the world's worst (Mali at 106.9). In Australia the figure is 4.49.
SUMMARY
I started off this Africa project as a matter of self -education: to make good deficiencies in my knowledge of the vast Continent and its many countries, and, to write about what I find in as entertaining and interesting a way as I can.
But I have to admit that the knowledge that I am gaining is undermining, and disturbing the enjoyment I had expected from the exercise. The troubles of the Sudans are appalling and, in an exercise like this, it is impossible to come to grips with the peoples involved to any meaningful degree, especially when even usually reliable sources contradict one another over simple facts that elsewhere would be indisputable. As for any thought of making what I write entertaining , that would be obscene in this case - like an "entertaining" account of an air crash.
To tell the truth, I feel guilty for leading the comfortable life that I do whilst contemplating the wretchedness of the Sudanese people. Yet, at 75 years of age and living on an Aged Pension, the only practical thing I can do is to write and help bring their plight to notice.
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