The Sudan Handbook

land &  WateR    43

irrigation projects, but these have often had disruptive effects on local

populations. In the sphere of international relations, moreover, hydro-

politics has long dominated Sudan’s relations with Egypt, since Egypt’s

population, which at    80   million is more than twice the size of Sudan’s, is

completely dependent on the flow of the river to bring water and alluvial

silt to the agricultural areas of the Nile Delta.

Landscape and History

Sudan’s geography, then, like its history, appears to be dominated by

the Nile. In northern Sudan, most of the population now live along

the river; the major cities, industry, wealth and power are all concen-

trated there. Greater Khartoum, at the junction of the Blue and White

Niles – comprising the three cities of Khartoum, Khartoum North

and Omdurman and their surrounding camps and shanty towns – is

overwhelmingly the largest urban centre in the country. It would be easy

to think that this pattern of development is the unavoidable consequence

of a natural landscape; but this is no more inevitable than is the shape of

Sudan itself: Sudan’s geography is the product of political and historical

factors, as well as conditions imposed by nature.

Though large in area, Sudan has never been particularly populous.

The population in   1903     was estimated at less than two million – a figure

probably pitched deliberately low by British officials anxious to empha-

size the loss of life under Mahdist rule. Within a few years the population

estimates were being adjusted rapidly upwards, and in 1955–56 the first

• and last – plausible census of the whole of Sudan put the population at
  just over 10 million. 39 per cent of these regarded themselves, according
  to the census, as members of Arab tribes, and 51 per cent spoke Arabic
  as their first language. The most recent census, in 2008, recorded a total
  population of 39 million, but it probably understates the population both
  of Darfur (recorded as 7.5 million) and of southern Sudan (8.2 million),
  either as a result of flawed data collection or manipulation of the results.
  The uncertainty over how many people actually live in Sudan is the most

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors striking^ example^ of^ a^ recurrent^ problem:^ in^ Sudan,^ statistics^ are^ generally^

(www.riftvalley.net).