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104-487: In 1997, the Egyptian government decided to develop a new valley (as opposed to the existing Nile Valley ) where agricultural and industrial communities would develop. It has been an ambitious project which was meant to help Egypt cope with its rapidly growing population. The canal inlet starts from a site 8 km to the north of Toshka Bay (Khor) on Lake Nasser. The canal is meant to continue westwards until it reaches

208-739: A Syrian passport who lacked a visa. After the signing of the historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA), the Government of Sudan began a massive development project. In 2007, the biggest projects in Khartoum were the Al-Mogran Development Project , two five-star hotels, a new airport, El Mek Nimr Bridge (finished in October 2007) and

312-433: A Turkish officer, Selim Bimbashi, were made between 1839 and 1842, and two got to the point about 30 kilometres (20 miles) beyond the present port of Juba , where the country rises and rapids make navigation very difficult. Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate

416-767: A distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians." Modern exploration of the Nile basin began with the conquest of the northern and central Sudan by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali , and his sons from 1821 onward. As a result of this, the Blue Nile was known as far as its exit from the Ethiopian foothills and the White Nile as far as the mouth of the Sobat River. Three expeditions under

520-468: A factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over 8,212 m /s (290,000 cu ft/s) occurred during late August and early September, and minimum flows of about 552 m /s (19,500 cu ft/s) occurred during late April and early May. The Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge. The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin

624-411: A major obstacle to any irrigation project. As the land is irrigated, the salt would mix with the aquifers and would reduce access to potable water. There is also the difficulty that the clay minerals found in the soil are posing technical problems to the big wheeled structures moving around autonomously to irrigate the land. Often their wheels get stuck in a little bowl created by wet clay that dried, and

728-411: A market four miles away, a vast journey in the desert heat." Many residents were reduced to having only burlap sacks as housing. The intentional displacement was part of a large urban renewal plan backed by the housing minister, Sharaf Bannaga. The sudden death of SPLA head and vice-president of Sudan John Garang in late July 2005, was followed by three days of violent riots in the capital. Order

832-516: A massacre of the defending Anglo-Egyptian garrison. In 1898 it was reoccupied by British forces and was the seat of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan's government until 1956. In 1956, the city was designated as the capital of an independent Sudan . Three hostages were killed during the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum in 1973. In 2008, the Justice and Equality Movement engaged in combat in

936-414: A permanent settlement and underwent rapid development in the next decades. With its elevation to capital status, Khartoum quickly grew into a regional center of trade, serving as a rest area on the caravan route from Ethiopia to Egypt , but also becoming a major focal point for the slave trade . A significant change took place in 1854, when most of the city was destroyed by heavy rains and floods. It

1040-688: A street plan in the shape of the Union Jack . Khartoum Bahri was established as a garrison comprising a dockyard and a railhead to Egypt , while Omdurman, remained the most populous part and largely kept its old shape. During World War II, the Italian Empire attempted to advance into Sudan from Ethiopia , with the end goal of capturing Khartoum. However, the Italian attack was repelled by British forces in Sudan. The fourth Arab League summit

1144-515: A wall connecting the Blue and White Niles, the city was conquered by the Mahdists on 26 January 1885. Many of the inhabitants were massacred or enslaved and the survivors were deported to the newly established Omdurman , while Khartoum was largely destroyed and abandoned. With the reconquest of Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1898, Khartoum was reinstated as the capital, and was rebuilt according to

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1248-465: Is an archaeological site located in alluvial deposits formed by an ancient channel of the Nile in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach , Sudan. There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following

1352-587: Is approximately 1,218 m /s (43,000 cu ft/s) in October and minimum flow is about 609 m /s (21,500 cu ft/s) in April. This fluctuation is caused by the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about 99 m /s (3,500 cu ft/s) in March and a peak flow of over 680 m /s (24,000 cu ft/s) in October. During the dry season (January to June)

1456-434: Is home to the largest airport in Sudan, Khartoum International Airport . It is the main hub for Sudan Airways , Sudan's main carrier. A new airport was planned for the southern outskirts of the city, but with Khartoum's rapid growth and consequent urban sprawl , the airport is still located in the heart of the city. Khartoum's transportation is limited to the vehicular road system, with buses and personal vehicles comprising

1560-755: Is in Egypt. Below the Aswan Dam , at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course. North of Cairo , the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta . The annual sediment transport by the Nile in Egypt has been quantified. Below the confluence with

1664-566: Is located in northern Khartoum. The Souq al Arabi is Khartoum's largest open air market. The souq is spread over several blocks in the center of Khartoum proper just south of the Great Mosque (Mesjid al-Kabir) and the minibus station. It is divided into separate sections, including one focused entirely on gold. Al Qasr Street and Al Jamhoriyah Street are considered the most famous high streets in Khartoum State . Afra Mall

1768-523: Is located in the southern suburb of Arkeweet. The Afra Mall has a supermarket, retail outlets, coffee shops, a bowling alley, movie theaters, and a children's playground. In 2011, Sudan opened the Hotel Section and part of the food court of the new, Corinthia Hotel Tower. The Mall/Shopping section is still under construction. Khartoum is the main location for most of Sudan's top educational bodies. There are four main levels of education: Khartoum

1872-771: Is served by Khartoum International Airport with the New Khartoum International Airport under construction. Several national and cultural institutions are in Khartoum and its metropolitan area, including the National Museum of Sudan , the Khalifa House Museum , the University of Khartoum , and the Sudan University of Science and Technology . The origin of the word Khartoum is uncertain. Scholars posit that

1976-467: Is the National Museum of Sudan . Founded in 1971, it contains works from different epochs of Sudanese history. Among the exhibits are two Egyptian temples of Buhen and Semna , originally built by Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Tuthmosis III , respectively, but relocated to Khartoum upon the flooding of Lake Nasser . The Republican Palace Museum , opened in 2000, is located in the former Anglican All Saints' cathedral on Sharia al-Jama'a, next to

2080-572: Is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring 520,000 square kilometers (200,000 sq mi) in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about 2 m /s (71 cu ft/s) annually, because tremendous volumes of water are lost in the Sudd wetlands. The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, 225,000 km (86,900 sq mi), but contributes 412 cubic meters per second (14,500 cu ft/s) annually to

2184-545: Is traditionally considered to be the headwaters stream. However, the Blue Nile is the source of most of the water of the Nile downstream, containing 80% of the water and silt . The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region. It begins at Lake Victoria and flows through Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet at

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2288-406: Is very low, with only 121.3 mm (4.78 in) of precipitation. Khartoum records on average six days with 10 mm (0.39 in) or more and 19 days with 1 mm (0.039 in) or more of rainfall. The highest temperatures occur during two periods in the year: the first at the late dry season, when average high temperatures consistently exceed 40 °C (104 °F) from April to June, and

2392-598: The 1998 U.S. embassy bombings , the United States accused bin Laden's al-Qaeda group and, on 20 August, launched cruise missile attacks on the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North . The factory's destruction created diplomatic tension between the U.S. and Sudan. The factory ruins are now a tourist attraction. In November 1991, the government of President Omar al-Bashir sought to remove half

2496-567: The Blue Nile , flowing west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia . Divided by these two parts of the Nile, the Khartoum metropolitan area is a tripartite metropolis consisting of Khartoum proper and linked by bridges to Khartoum North ( الخرطوم بحري al-Kharṭūm Baḥrī ) and Omdurman ( أم درمان Umm Durmān ) to the west. The place where the two Niles meet is known as al-Mogran or al-Muqran ( المقرن ; English: "The Confluence"). Khartoum

2600-522: The Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement attacked the city with the goal of toppling Omar al-Bashir 's government. The Sudanese government held off the assault. On 23 October 2012, an explosion at the Yarmouk munitions factory killed two people and injured another person. The Sudanese government claimed that the explosion was the result of an Israeli airstrike. On 3 June 2019, Khartoum

2704-588: The Democratic Republic of the Congo , Tanzania , Burundi , Rwanda , Uganda , Kenya , Ethiopia , Eritrea , South Sudan , Sudan , and Egypt . In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. The Nile is an important economic driver supporting agriculture and fishing. The Nile has two major tributaries : the White Nile and the Blue Nile . The White Nile

2808-802: The Nuba Mountains , as well as down the White Nile (the Dinka and Shilluk territories). According to the British explorer Samuel Baker , who visited Khartoum in 1862, slavery was the industry "that kept Khartoum going as a bustling town". On 13 March 1884, troops loyal to the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad began the siege of Khartoum against the Egyptian garrison led by the British General Charles George Gordon . Despite being fortified by trenches and

2912-707: The Nubian word Agartum , meaning "the abode of Atum ", Atum being the Nubian and Egyptian god of creation. Other Beja scholars suggest Khartoum is derived from the Beja word hartoom , "meeting". Sociologist Vincent J. Donovan notes that in the Nilotic Maa language of the Maasai people , khartoum means "we have acquired" and that the geographical location of Khartoum is where Maasai oral tradition claims that

3016-651: The Paleogene and Neogene Periods (66 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift , White Nile rift , Blue Nile rift , Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift . The Mellut Basin is nearly 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamp which forms

3120-787: The River Nile or Nile River ) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa . It flows into the Mediterranean Sea . The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river in the world , though this has been contested by research suggesting that the Amazon River is slightly longer. Of the world's major rivers, the Nile is one of the smallest, as measured by annual flow in cubic metres of water. About 6,650 km (4,130 mi) long, its drainage basin covers eleven countries:

3224-482: The Tuti Bridge that links Khartoum to Tuti Island . In the 21st century, Khartoum developed based on Sudan's oil wealth (although the independence of South Sudan in 2011 affected the economy of Sudan negatively ). The center of the city has tree-lined streets. Khartoum has the highest concentration of economic activity in the country. This has changed as major economic developments take place in other parts of

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3328-456: The discharge at any given point along the main stem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration , and groundwater flow. Upstream from Khartoum (to the south), the river is known as the White Nile , a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum, the river is joined by the Blue Nile . The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and

3432-430: The dry season ) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many kilometres upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 6,758 km (4,199 mi). The White Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda , as the "Victoria Nile." It flows north for some 130 kilometers (81 mi) to Lake Kyoga . The last part of the approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) river section starts from

3536-552: The Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No , after which the Nile becomes known as the Bahr al Abyad , or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf , flows out of

3640-652: The Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift . The source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana in the Gish Abay region in the Ethiopian Highlands . The source of the White Nile, even after centuries of exploration, remains in dispute. The most remote source that is indisputably a source for the White Nile is the Kagera River ; however,

3744-569: The Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbarah River , also known as the Red Nile. Roughly halfway to the sea, it originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana , and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long. The Atbarah flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up north of Khartoum . The Blue Nile ( Amharic : ዓባይ , ʿĀbay ) springs from Lake Tana in

3848-589: The Congo, but the Nile is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the Albert Nile . The White Nile flows into South Sudan just south of Nimule , where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("Mountain River" ). Just south of the town is the confluence with the Achwa River . The Bahr al Ghazal , 716 kilometers (445 mi) long, joins

3952-635: The Darb el-Arbe'ien route, then northwards along the Darb el- Arbe'ien to the Baris Oasis , covering a distance of 310 km. But as of April 2012, the canal is still 60 km short of the Baris Oasis. The Mubarak Pumping Station in Toshka is the centerpiece of the project and was inaugurated in March 2005. It pumps water from Lake Nasser to be transported by way of a canal through the valley, with

4056-537: The Delta, and would have been pronounced ni-lo-he in the area around Memphis in the 8th century BCE. Hesiod at his Theogony refers to Nilus (Νεῖλος) as one of the Potamoi (river gods), son of Oceanus and Tethys . Another derivation of Nile might be related to the term Nil ( Sanskrit : नील , romanized :  nila ; Egyptian Arabic : نيلة ), which refers to Indigofera tinctoria , one of

4160-414: The Ethiopian rainy season when rainfall is especially high in the Ethiopian Highlands ; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile have a weaker flow. In harsh and arid seasons and droughts, the Blue Nile dries out completely. The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During

4264-630: The Ethiopian Highlands, satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. A canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents the Eonile that flowed during 23–5.3 million years before present. The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments. During the late- Miocene Messinian salinity crisis , when

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4368-491: The Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometres to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile. Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile come from the Atbarah and Blue Nile, both of which originate in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water coming from the Blue Nile. The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during

4472-874: The Kagera has tributaries that are in contention for the farthest source of the White Nile. Two start in Burundi: the Ruvyironza River (also known as the Luvironza) and the Rurubu River . In addition, in 2010, an exploration party in Rwanda went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary, and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe Forest found (in

4576-482: The Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred metres below world ocean level at Aswan and 2,400 m (7,900 ft) below Cairo. This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment after the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised

4680-464: The Middle East and Africa, and described being told of the source of the Nile in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Later in the 15th and 16th centuries, travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Supposedly, Paolo Trevisani ( c.  1452 –1483), a Venetian traveller in Ethiopia, wrote a journal of his travels to the origin of the Nile that has since been lost. Although James Bruce claimed to be

4784-407: The Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend. The Nile has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age , with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt developing along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. However, the Nile used to run much more westerly through what is now Wadi Hamim and Wadi al Maqar in Libya and flow into the Gulf of Sidra . As

4888-411: The Nile since ancient times. A tune, Hymn to the Nile , was created and sung by the ancient Egyptian peoples about the flooding of the Nile River and all of the miracles it brought to Ancient Egyptian civilization. Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and the Assyrians introduced camels in the 7th century BCE. These animals were raised for meat and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in

4992-403: The Nile valley north of the Aswan Dam . Nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt developed and are found along river banks. The Nile is, with the Rhône and Po , one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge . The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile" refer to the river's source, derived from Arabic names formerly applied to only

5096-410: The Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile. The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at Mongalla is almost constant throughout the year and averages 1,048 m /s (37,000 cu ft/s). After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration . The average flow rate of

5200-417: The Nile. When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color. The Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouaddaï highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c.  8000 to c.  1000 BCE . Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar . The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with

5304-414: The Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF broke out across Sudan, including in Khartoum . Fighting was reported at the presidential palace, the RSF's headquarters, Khartoum International Airport and Merowe Airport , the last two of which the RSF claimed to have captured. Gunfire and clashes were also reported at El Obeid Airport in North Kordofan . Khartoum is located at the confluence of the Blue Nile and

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5408-414: The Sudanese capital of Khartoum . The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Nubian Desert to Cairo and its large delta , and the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria . Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river and its annual flooding since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of

5512-425: The Sudanese stretches that meet at Khartoum . In the ancient Egyptian language , the Nile is called Ḥꜥpy (Hapy) or Jtrw (Iteru), meaning "river". In Coptic , the word ⲫⲓⲁⲣⲟ , pronounced piaro ( Sahidic ) or phiaro ( Bohairic ), means "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great"), and comes from the same ancient name. In Nobiin , the river is called Áman Dawū , meaning "the great water". In Luganda ,

5616-431: The Sudd wetlands of South Sudan, the upper reaches of the White Nile remained largely unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Vitruvius thought that source of the Nile was in Mauritania, on the "other" (south) side of the Atlas Mountains . Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source. Agatharchides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus , a military expedition had penetrated far enough along

5720-465: The Victory Bridge, and the Al-Dabbasin Bridge span the White Nile, connecting Khartoum to Omdurman. The Tuti Bridge connects Tuti Island with Khartoum. Prior to the construction of the Tuti Bridge in 2008, residents of Tuti Island relied on water taxis to cross the Blue Nile into Khartoum. Khartoum has rail lines from Wadi Halfa , Port Sudan on the Red Sea , and El Obeid . All are operated by Sudan Railways . The architecture of Khartoum reflects

5824-408: The White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about 510 m /s (18,000 cu ft/s). From here it meets with the Sobat River at Malakal . On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about 15% of the total outflow of the Nile. The average flow of the White Nile at Lake Kawaki Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is 924 m /s (32,600 cu ft/s); the peak flow

5928-400: The White Nile contributes between 70% and 90% of the total discharge from the Nile. Below Renk , the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile. The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts , from the sixth at Sabaloka just north of Khartoum northward to Abu Hamad . The tectonic uplift of the Nubian Swell diverts

6032-399: The White Nile. Khartoum is relatively flat, at elevation 385 m (1,263 ft), as the Nile flows northeast past Omdurman to Shendi , at elevation 364 m (1,194 ft) about 163 km (101 mi) away. Khartoum features a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ) with a dry season occurring during winter, typical of the Saharo-Sahelian zone, which marks

6136-444: The afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra , the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death. As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life,

6240-447: The ancestors of the Maasai first acquired cattle . In 1821, Khartoum was established 24 km (15 mi) north of the ancient city of Soba , by Isma'il Kamil Pasha , the third son of Egypt's ruler, Muhammad Ali Pasha , who had just incorporated Sudan into his realm. Originally, Khartoum served as an outpost for the Egyptian Army . Egypt shifted the seat of the colonial government from Wad Madani to Khartoum in 1823, which became

6344-482: The ancient calendar was even based on the three cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet , Peret , and Shemu . Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth. Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains. Owing to their failure to penetrate

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6448-415: The average monthly high temperature fall below 30 °C (86 °F). This is something not seen in other major cities with hot desert climates, such as Riyadh , Baghdad and Phoenix . Almost 250,000 Syrians lived in Khartoum as of 2019, representing 5% of the total population of the city. Most are young men who have fled war in Syria. Sudan was the only country in the world to accept travelers carrying

6552-411: The camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods. The Nile was also an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapi was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and

6656-406: The central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift system, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift , is about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be 5–9 kilometers (3.1–5.6 mi). These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition

6760-461: The city with the Sudanese Armed Forces as part of the War in Darfur . The Khartoum massacre occurred in 2019 during the Sudanese Revolution . The city saw extensive combat during the 2023 Sudan conflict between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), affecting Khartoum International Airport and other critical sites. Khartoum is an economic and trade center in North Africa , with rail lines from Port Sudan and El-Obeid . It

6864-433: The city's history since the early 1820s and is marked by both native Sudanese, Turkish, British and modern buildings. In general, the architecture of Sudan reflects a wide diversity in its shapes, materials, and use. Since independence, the people of Sudan have introduced new infrastructure and technology, which has led to new and innovative building concepts, ideas and construction techniques. The largest museum in Sudan

6968-413: The city's outskirts. Since the mid-1980s, large numbers of refugees from South Sudan and Darfur – fleeing the violence of the Second Sudanese Civil War and Darfur conflict – have settled around Khartoum. In 1991, Osama bin Laden purchased a house in the affluent al-Riyadh neighborhood of the city and another in Soba . He lived there until 1996, when he was banished from the country. Following

7072-423: The country, like oil exploration in the south, the Giad Industrial Complex in Al Jazirah state and White Nile Sugar Project in Central Sudan, and the Merowe Dam in the North. Among the city's industries are printing, glass manufacturing, food processing, and textiles. Petroleum products are now produced in the far north of Khartoum state, providing fuel and jobs for the city. One of Sudan's largest refineries

7176-412: The course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana. The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154. Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 14th century when the Pope sent monks as emissaries to Mongolia who passed India,

7280-492: The development of Egyptian civilization. Because the river overflowed its banks annually and deposited new layers of silt, the surrounding land was very fertile. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax , papyrus and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along

7384-402: The dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as 113 m /s (4,000 cu ft/s), although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river. During the wet season, the peak flow of the Blue Nile often exceeds 5,663 m /s (200,000 cu ft/s) in late August (a difference of a factor of 50). Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by

7488-410: The etymology is disputed. Homer called the river Αἴγυπτος , Aiguptos , but in subsequent periods, Greek authors referred to its lower course as Neilos ; this term became generalized for the entire river system. Thus, the name may derive from Ancient Egyptian expression n ꜣ r ꜣ w-ḥ ꜣ w(t) (lit. 'the mouths of the front parts'), which referred specifically to the branches of the Nile transversing

7592-508: The first European to have visited the headwaters, modern writers give the credit to the Jesuit Pedro Páez . Páez's account of the source of the Nile is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Páez's contemporaries, including Baltazar Téllez, Athanasius Kircher and Johann Michael Vansleb . Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since

7696-459: The great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after Queen Victoria . Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika , was outraged that Speke claimed to have proven his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A quarrel ensued which sparked intense debate within

7800-536: The idea of transforming 2340 km (588,000 acres) of desert into agricultural land. The Toshka Project has now been revived by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi . Half of the land will be given to college graduates, 1 acre each, funded by the Long Live Egypt Fund. The essential problem is that the Western Desert's high saline levels and the presence of underground aquifers in the area act as

7904-612: The irrigation machines come to a standstill. The only objective met up to April 2012 is the diversion of water from Lake Nasser into what little of the Sheikh Zayed Canal has been built. The Toshka Lakes are a by-product of the rising level of Lake Nasser and lie in the same general region as much of the New Valley Project. 22°38′N 31°07′E  /  22.63°N 31.12°E  / 22.63; 31.12 Nile The Nile (also known as

8008-453: The lake's northern shore. Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( / k ɑːr ˈ t uː m / kar- TOOM ; Arabic : الخرطوم , romanized :  al-Khurṭūm , pronounced [al.xur.tˤuːm] ) is the capital city of Sudan . With a population of 6,344,348, Khartoum's metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flowing north from Lake Victoria – and

8112-609: The late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese João Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero 's De Republica . Jerónimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Páez. Telles also uses his account. The White Nile

8216-580: The main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago during the African humid period . The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it played a crucial role in

8320-703: The main types of vehicles. As with many cities in the continent, parts of Khartoum are connected through privately owned buses. Khartoum has a number of bridges across both tributaries of the Nile. The Mac Nimir Bridge , the Blue Nile Road & Railway Bridge , the Cooper Bridge (also known as the Armed Forces Bridge), and the Elmansheya Bridge span the Blue Nile, connecting Khartoum to Khartoum North. The Omdurman Bridge ,

8424-490: The name derives from the Dinka words khar-tuom (Dinka-Bor dialect) or khier-tuom (as is the pronunciation in various Dinka dialects), translating to "place where rivers meet". This is supported by historical accounts which place the Dinka homeland in central Sudan (around present-day Khartoum) as recently as the 13th-17th centuries A.D. One folk etymology is that it is derived from Arabic khurṭūm ( خرطوم ' trunk ' or ' hose ' ), probably referring to

8528-513: The narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles. Captain J.A. Grant , who reached Khartoum in 1863 with Captain Speke 's expedition, thought the name was most probably from the Arabic qurtum ( قرطم ' safflower ' , i.e., Carthamus tinctorius ), which was cultivated extensively in Egypt for its oil to be used as fuel. Some scholars speculate that the word derives from

8632-513: The original sources of indigo dye . Another may be Nymphaea caerulea , known as "The Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile", which was found scattered over Tutankhamun 's corpse when it was excavated in 1922. Another possible etymology derives from the Semitic term Nahal , meaning "river". Old Libyan has the term lilu , meaning water (in modern Berber ilel ⵉⵍⴻⵍ means sea ). With a total length of about 6,650 km (4,130 mi) between

8736-401: The population from the city. The residents, deemed squatters , were mostly southern Sudanese whom the government feared could be potential rebel sympathizers. Around 425,000 people were placed in five "Peace Camps" in the desert an hour's drive from Khartoum. The camps were watched over by heavily armed security guards, many relief agencies were banned from assisting, and "the nearest food was at

8840-575: The present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Rushdi Said postulates that Egypt supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history. The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile, the Atbara and the Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times. Salama suggests that during

8944-539: The progressive passage between the Sahara Desert 's vast arid areas and the Sahel 's vast semi-arid areas. The climate is extremely dry for most of the year, with about eight months when average rainfall is lower than 5 mm (0.20 in). The very long dry season is itself divided into a warm, very dry season between November and February, as well as a very hot, dry season between March and May. During this part of

9048-462: The region of Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea , the Nile is among the longest rivers on Earth. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa. Compared to other major rivers, though, the Nile carries little water (5% of that of the Congo River , for example). The Nile basin is complex, and because of this,

9152-632: The river is called Kiira or Kiyira . In Runyoro , it is called Kihiira . In Egyptian Arabic , the Nile is called en-Nīl , while in Standard Arabic it is called an-Nīl . In Biblical Hebrew , it is הַיְאוֹר ‎, Ha-Ye'or or הַשִׁיחוֹר ‎, Ha-Shiḥor . The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος . Beyond that, however,

9256-618: The river south-west for over 300 km, following the structure of the Central African Shear Zone embracing the Bayuda Desert . At Al Dabbah it resumes its northward course towards the first cataract at Aswan forming the S-shaped Great Bend of the Nile mentioned by Eratosthenes . In the north of Sudan, the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which

9360-532: The riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris . Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia. The currently existing Nile first flowed during the former parts of the Würm glaciation period. Affad 23

9464-407: The scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on

9568-588: The sea level rose at the end of the most recent ice age , the stream which is now the northern Nile captured the ancestral Nile near Asyut . This change in climate also led to the current extents of the Sahara desert, around 3400 BCE. The Giza pyramid complex originally overlooked a branch of the Nile that no longer exists. This branch was highest during the African Humid Period . The existing Nile has five earlier phases: Flowing north from

9672-572: The second at the early dry season, when average high temperatures exceed 39 °C (102 °F) in September and October. Temperatures cool off somewhat during the night, with Khartoum's lowest average low temperature of the year, in January, just above 15 °C (59 °F). Khartoum is one of the hottest major cities on Earth, with annual mean temperatures hovering around 30 °C (86 °F). The city also has very warm winters. In no month does

9776-560: The western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of Masindi Port , where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north to Karuma Falls . For the remaining part, it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta. Lake Albert is on the border of the Democratic Republic of

9880-585: The year, hot, dry continental trade winds from deserts, such as the harmattan , sweep over the region; the weather is stable and very dry. The very irregular, very brief, rainy season lasts about 1 month as the maximum rainfall is recorded in August, with about 48 mm (1.9 in). The rainy season is characterized by a seasonal reverse of wind regimes, when the Intertropical Convergence Zone goes northerly. Average annual rainfall

9984-441: Was a slave trader and the al-Zibar Basha street leads to the military base where the 2019 Khartoum massacre took place. On 26 October 2021, the city was locked down following a military coup that left at least 7 dead, triggering protests and calls for a general strike. Prime minister Abdalla Hamdok was arrested during the coup, and held along with other cabinet members in an unknown location. On 15 April 2023, fighting between

10088-574: Was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift systems. The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The Atbarah overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to

10192-597: Was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder writes that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania ", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli , then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for

10296-561: Was finally restored after southern Sudanese politicians and tribal leaders sent strong messages to the rioters. The death toll was at least 24, as youths from southern Sudan attacked northern Sudanese and clashed with security forces. The African Union summit of 16–24 January 2006 was held in Khartoum; as was the Arab League summit of 28–29 March 2006, during which they elected Sudan the Arab League presidency. On 10 May 2008,

10400-655: Was founded in 1821 by Muhammad Ali Pasha , north of the ancient city of Soba . In 1882 the British Empire took control of the Egyptian government, leaving the administration of Sudan in the hands of the Egyptians. At the outbreak of the Mahdist War , the British attempted to evacuate Anglo-Egyptian garrisons from Sudan but the Siege of Khartoum in 1884 resulted in the capture of the city by Mahdist forces and

10504-613: Was held in Khartoum on 29 August 1967. In 1973, the city was the site of a hostage crisis in which members of Black September held 10 hostages at the Saudi Arabian embassy, five of them diplomats. The US ambassador, the US deputy ambassador, and the Belgian chargé d'affaires were murdered. The remaining hostages were released. A 1973 United States Department of State document, declassified in 2006, concluded: "The Khartoum operation

10608-662: Was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat ." In 1977, the first oil pipeline between Khartoum and Port Sudan was completed. The Organization of African Unity summit of 18–22 July 1978 was held in Khartoum, during which Sudan was awarded the OAU presidency. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Khartoum was the destination of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring nations such as Chad , Eritrea , Ethiopia and Uganda . Many Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees assimilated into society, while others settled in large slums on

10712-486: Was rebuilt with houses made out of mud and stones, replacing those made out of thatch and straw. Khartoum also became the seat of several European consulates and the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Africa . European pressure and influence forced Egypt to close the city's public slave market in 1854, although slaves continued to be sold and trafficked in large numbers, specifically from the Blue Nile region and

10816-461: Was the site of the Khartoum massacre , where over 100 dissidents were murdered (the government said 61 were killed), hundreds more injured and 70 women raped by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers in order to forcefully disperse the peaceful protests calling for a civilian government. On 1 July 2020, activists demanded that al-Zibar Basha street in Khartoum be renamed. Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur

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