Sudan

Sudan, or to give it its full title, Republic of the Sudan, is the largest country in Africa and the tenth largest country on the planet. It is also one of the most troubled. Formed as part of the ancient land of Numbia, what is now Sudan was unified with Egypt in 1821 and later became a British Colony until gaining independence in 1956. Even before the modern nation of Sudan was born, it was already embroiled in a civil war between the north and south of the country, with the south being fearful of the North's dominance and Islamic leaning culture.

This war lasted until 1972 and ceased on the signing of the Addis Ababa Agreement, however tensions continued. War flared again in 1983 when President Gaafar Nimeiry decided to modify the agreement, including imposing Islamic law throughout the country, without the consent of the south, which had been operating within Sudan but as a largely autonomous state.

This second war lasted for twenty years until it was ended by the signing of the Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 which re-established southern Sudan's former autonomy together with a promise of a referendum on independence in 2011. Northern troops finally left the south of the country in 2008.

Unfortunately this was not the end of warfare in Sudan, for in 2003 a separate conflict had erupted in the western province of Darfur. This followed accusation from the Sudanese Liberation Army that the Sudan government was oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs. This was has displaced over two million people, resulted in the deaths of upward of 400,00 people and had Sudan's President President Omar al-Bashir indited for war crimes. UN peace keeping troops still operate in the area in an attempt to bring some stability to the region.

Against this backdrop of bloody conflict, generations of children have been born, mostly into extreme poverty in a country that has had its infrastructures ravaged by war and its economy shattered. Sudan has been described at the World's worst humanitarian crisis, and its war problems have been compounded by harsh famines, illness and disease. Today, with its 41 million population, the country and its people faces an uncertain and still dangerous future.

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