Khartoum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from North Khartoum)

Jump to: navigation, search

Al-Khartoum, Sudan
الخرطوم

Seal

Nickname: The Triangular City

Khartoum's location in Sudan

Coordinates: 15°34′N 33°36′E / 15.567, 33.6

Government

- Governor

Abdul Halim al Mutafi

Population (2005)

- Urban

2.207.794

- Metro

8,000,000 Agglomeration

For other uses, see Khartoum (disambiguation).

Khartoum (الخرطوم al-Kharṭūm "Elephant Trunk" (see etymology) is the capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the point where the White Nile, flowing north from Uganda, meets the Blue Nile, flowing west from Ethiopia. The merger of the two Niles is known as "the Mogran". The merged Nile flows north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

The city proper has a population of well over a million inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the country, but forms with its neighbours, linked by bridges, Khartoum North (al-Khartūm Bahrī) and Omdurman (Umm Durmān) a metropolis with a population totaling over eight million.

From an article by C. E. J. Walkly:

"The word "Khartoum" means 'elephant’s trunk' in the dialect which was spoken locally, the name of the town is probably derived from the narrow strip of land extending between the blue and White Niles, which is like the trunk of an elephant. Captain J. A. Grant who reached Khartoum in 1863 with Captain Speke’s expedition, though that the derivation was most probably from the safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.) Which is called "Gartoon", and which was cultivated extensively in Egypt for its oil, used in burning. This explanation is ingenious but has no support."^[1]

Ibrahim Pasha, the adopted son of Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt, founded Khartoum in 1821 as an outpost for the Egyptian army, but the settlement grew as a regional center of trade, including the slave trade. Troops loyal to the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad began a siege of Khartoum on March 13, 1884 against the defenders led by British General Charles George Gordon. The siege resulted in the massacre of the Anglo-Egyptian garrison.

The heavily damaged city fell to the Mahdists on January 26, 1885. Omdurman was the scene of the bloody battle on September 2, 1898, during which British forces under Sirdar Horatio Kitchener defeated the Mahdist forces defending the city.

In 1899, Khartoum became the capital of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and, with the independence of Sudan in 1956, the capital of the new country.

In 1973, the city was the site of a hostage crisis in which members of Black September held ten hostages at the Saudi embassy, five of whom were diplomats. The US ambassador, the US deputy ambassador, and the Belgian Chargé d'affaires were murdered. The remaining hostages were released (see Khartoum diplomatic assassinations).

The first oil pipeline between Khartoum and Port Sudan was completed in 1977.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Khartoum was the destination for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring nations such as Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda. The refugees settled in large slums at the outskirts of the city. From the mid-1980s onward, large numbers of internally displaced from the violence of the Second Sudanese Civil War and Darfur conflict have settled around Khartoum.

Following the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the United States accused Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group of responsibility and launched cruise missile attacks (August 20) on the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North. The destruction of the factory produced diplomatic tension between the U.S. and Sudan, and was criticized both before and after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

After the sudden death of SPLA head and vice-president of Sudan John Garang at the end of July 2005, there were violent riots in the capital for some days. The death toll was at least 24 as youth from South Sudan attacked North Sudanese and clashed with security forces.^[2]

The Arab League summit of March 28-29, 2006 was held in Khartoum, during which the Arab League awarded Sudan the Arab League presidency.

Year	Population^[3]
Year	City	Agglomeration
1907^[4]	69.349	k.A.
1956	93.100	245.800
1973	333.906	748.300
1983	476.218	1.340.646
1993	947.483	2.919.773
2007 Estimate	2.207.794	8.363.915

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

View of the traffic in the city of Khartoum.

Al-Fatih Hotel.

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 has begun a massive development project. The biggest projects taking place right now in Khartoum are the Al-Mogran Development Project, two five-star hotels, a new airport, the McNimir Bridge (finished in October 2007) and the Tuti Bridge.

Khartoum is very poor, with few exclusive areas. Few streets are paved, but the centre is well-planned, with tree-lined streets. However, Khartoum has the highest concentration of economic activity in the country. This is slowly changing as major economic developments take place in other parts of the country, like oil exploration in the South, the Giad Industrial Complex 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 is located in northern Khartoum.

Khartoum is the main location for most of Sudan's top educational bodies, including but not limited to:

Unity High School. The school came to international attention on November 25, 2007 when one of its teachers, Gillian Gibbons from Liverpool, England, was arrested by Sudanese authorities for allegedly insulting Islam by allowing the children in her class to name a teddy bear "Muhammad".^[5]^[6]

University of Khartoum. Founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902, it was later renamed to share the name of the city in the 1930s.
Sudan University of Science and Technology. One of the main Engineering and technical schools in Sudan founded in 1932 as Khartoum Technical Institute and then later on 1991 turned into Sudan University of Science and Technology.
The Academy of Medical Sciences and Technology. Better known as AMST, it was founded in 1996 by Prof. Mamoun Humaida and built in Khartoum.
Juba University, relocated from Juba during the civil war. Currently plans exist to relocate the university back to its original location.
Bayan Science and Technology University
Al Neelain University
Omdurman Islamic University
Ahfad University for Women
Academy of Medical Sciences and Technology, Khartoum

Khartoum is home to the largest airport in Sudan, Khartoum International Airport. It is the main hub for Sudan Airways, Sudan's main carrier. It was built in the southern edge of the city, but the rapid growth of the city and through the major urbanization, it has become the heart of the city. A new international airport is currently being built in the city of Omdurman. It will replace the current airport in Khartoum as Sudan's main airport followed by Juba Airport and Port Sudan Airport.

The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:

Khartoum has rail lines from Egypt, Port Sudan and El Obeid.

An alleged statuee of Natakamani at the front of the National Museum of Sudan

The largest museum in Khartoum, and indeed all of Sudan, 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 which were originally built by Queen Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Tuthmosis III respectively but relocated to Khartoum upon the flooding of Lake Nasser.

Another museum in Khartoum is the Palace Museum, located adjacent the the historical Presidential Palace on Blue Nile Street.

Khartoum doesn't have as many open markets or souqs as neighboring Omdurman, but one of the largest is the Souq Arabi. The market is huge and spread over several squares 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.

Located in nearby Arkawet, the Afra Mall is the only mall in Sudan. It is not a large mall however and has a supermarket, retail outlets selling clothes and other things, a bowling alley, and a movie theatre.

Khartoum is home to a small botanical garden, in the Mogran district of the city.

Khartoum is home to several clubs such as the Sailing Club, German Club, Greek Club, Coptic Club, Syrian Club, International Club etc.

There is also a Hollywood film on the battle of the mahdi arms against General Gordon called Khartoum.