Violence in Darfur

Located in northeast Africa, separated from the peninsula of the Middle East by the Red Sea and split in half by the mighty Nile River, Sudan occupies a particularly conflict-torn region of the world. Despite the independence of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, Sudan remains one of Africa’s largest countries (Map 1.1), roughly one-fifth the size of the United States, with approximately 30 million residents. ¹ Its tidy borders, drawn like so many of the boundaries on the African continent by former imperialist powers, host a complex, historic variety of ethnicities, cultures, and religions. At times in its history, it has been part of Egypt—when it was known as the regions of Kush and Nubia—and it has been ruled by the British—who intentionally emphasized divisions between the north and the south to prevent any unified resistance. Sudan has seen its share of protracted hostility and violence, and the countries adjacent to it suffer no less.