ABSTRACT
The First Population Census of Sudan was conducted in the winter of 1955/56, and many of its results have since been published in the form of a number of Interim Reports, two popular publications and a Town Planners’ Supplement. The cartographic history of Sudan differs significantly from that of British colonies in the continent, partly because of the country’s great size and partly because of the historical links binding the country to Egypt. When an Arab tribe settles on the land, and ceases to lead a migratory existence, or when an Arabic tribal structure is imposed by conquest and assimilation on a previously settled non-Arab population, the Arabs’ administrative structure is retained. The original intention was not to publish the omodia map at all, but to use it to help locate the distribution of the population within the census areas rather more accurately than would otherwise have been possible.
