Sudan
by Sophia, Isabel A., Lulu
Population:Most of the Sudanese people live in rural villages, and less than two fifths live in urban areas. Thus, their way of living depends entirely upon water resources, availability, and access. As of 2013, the total population of Sudan is 37,964,306.
3 Most Practiced Languages:The three most practiced languages in Sudan are Arabic, Nubian, and Beja.
Major Religions:The biggest religion in Sudan is Islam (97%), and the two following are African Traditional Religion (1.5%), Christianity (1.5%). Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose of existence is to worship God, while the African Traditional Religion combines the beliefs of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
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General Geography & Environment:Most of Sudan is occupied by flat plains. There are plateaus, mountains and highlands near the borders, and in the northeast. The highest peak is Kinyeti, and rises to 10,456 feet. It is located near the Uganda border in the south. The Nile River, the longest in the world, flows through the middle of Sudan. The two major branches of the river are the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile flows out of Lake Victoria and crosses through Uganda before entering southern Sudan. The Blue Nile runs from the Ethiopian highlands and flows across the clay plains in eastern Sudan. The White and the Blue Nile form the main branch of the Nile in Khartoum and then flow through the Nubian Desert into Egypt.
Sudan has an extremely hot and dry climate, and the temperature has previously reached up to 121.5 °F, some of the hottest in the world. The Libyan (and Nubian) desert, which covers the northern third of the country, are almost always dry. The southern two thirds can have rain, usually between the months of April and November. Major Ethnicities:Nubians, Copts, and Bejas are the three major ethnic groups of Sudan. Nubians originate from Northern Sudan, and they settled along the banks of the Nile. They were well known for riding horses, bareback, and sometimes on their knees. Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities. A lot of this group lives in Egypt. Bejas speak their own language, Beja. They are inhabitants of Sudan, but also Eritrea, Egypt, and the Sahara Desert. Most of them live in the area of land between the Nile and the Red Sea in Sudan.
Popular Music:Music has been persistently unstable throughout the history of Sudan. Just like here the Sudanese people have genre of music, such as dervish, southern Sudanese folk music, nuba, haqibah, northern Sudanese lyrical music, (those are all folk and traditional music) post haqibah (also known as popular music.), southern Sudanese modern music, modern tribal music (those are all popular forms of music.)
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Sudan & Water:
A big problem with the water supply in Sudan is desertification. Desertification is the process of cutting down trees, and turning the forest into desert. Since 80% of the country works in agriculture, the water is crucial for the crops and for the livelihood of the Sudanese people. The increase in mechanized farming has reduced the amount of usable soil, which increases desertification.
With the pittance of water in Sudan, people have to walk for miles to find water. With the lack of education, girls don’t know how to keep themselves clean. They were not taught to wash their hands after using the restroom, or before preparing food, etc. Therefore, the clean water that they manage to find could just as well be dirty because they do not know the precautions they need to take. Even though Sudan has a large amount of underground water, it is shared with all of the other surrounding countries, leaving very little water for Sudan.
Insufficient access to clean water affects the lives of millions of people, girls in particular. Most are unable to go to school because they have to walk miles to provide water for their families. The average woman walks 3.75 miles a day to collect water, and therefore, they don’t have time to go to school. Without an education, their options are very limited, and the chances of moving out of poverty are slim. Since they spend so much time collecting water, it greatly reduces the time girls are able to spend receiving an education. When girls are provided with clean water and toilet facilities the enrollment rate in schools goes up by 15%.
In Sudan, agriculture takes up 80% of the water, and 70% of that is rainwater. They also use irrigation systems to help water the crops. This is a way that the people in developing countries are addressing this problem. Ways that organizations such as H2O for Life are addressing water issues is mostly by building wells. By building these wells, kids can get an education, because they don’t have to spend hours a day fetching water for their families. Mostly girls fetch the water, and if a girl is educated, they will be treated better, because they most likely won’t marry somebody just for money, and have a lot of kids to send through the same problems that they faced with water. If they decide they want to pursue their dreams, they have a better chance of being able to.
With the pittance of water in Sudan, people have to walk for miles to find water. With the lack of education, girls don’t know how to keep themselves clean. They were not taught to wash their hands after using the restroom, or before preparing food, etc. Therefore, the clean water that they manage to find could just as well be dirty because they do not know the precautions they need to take. Even though Sudan has a large amount of underground water, it is shared with all of the other surrounding countries, leaving very little water for Sudan.
Insufficient access to clean water affects the lives of millions of people, girls in particular. Most are unable to go to school because they have to walk miles to provide water for their families. The average woman walks 3.75 miles a day to collect water, and therefore, they don’t have time to go to school. Without an education, their options are very limited, and the chances of moving out of poverty are slim. Since they spend so much time collecting water, it greatly reduces the time girls are able to spend receiving an education. When girls are provided with clean water and toilet facilities the enrollment rate in schools goes up by 15%.
In Sudan, agriculture takes up 80% of the water, and 70% of that is rainwater. They also use irrigation systems to help water the crops. This is a way that the people in developing countries are addressing this problem. Ways that organizations such as H2O for Life are addressing water issues is mostly by building wells. By building these wells, kids can get an education, because they don’t have to spend hours a day fetching water for their families. Mostly girls fetch the water, and if a girl is educated, they will be treated better, because they most likely won’t marry somebody just for money, and have a lot of kids to send through the same problems that they faced with water. If they decide they want to pursue their dreams, they have a better chance of being able to.
Photographs are courtesy of the following websites:
. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Sudan_(New).jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8430/7493520282_7317485958_b.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Sudan
. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Ciismaniya.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sudan
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peace_agreement_dancers_in_Kapoeta,_Sudan.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/South_Sudan_019.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality_in_Sudan
. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Sudan_(New).jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8430/7493520282_7317485958_b.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Sudan
. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Ciismaniya.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sudan
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peace_agreement_dancers_in_Kapoeta,_Sudan.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/South_Sudan_019.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality_in_Sudan