Khartoum
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Categories: Articles lacking sources from May 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Arab League | Khartoum | Capitals in Africa | Cities, towns and villages in Sudan | Settlements established in 1821 | Khartoum State
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.
EtymologyFrom an article by C.E.J. Walkly[1]: "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, thought 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." HistoryEarly historyIbrahim 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. Recent historyImage:U-of-K Entrance.jpg
Entrance of the University of Khartoum's Central Campus in Khartoum.
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 1973 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. 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. Demographics
Economy
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, Mac Nimir Bridge (finished in October 2007) and the Tuti Bridge that will link khartoum to tuti island 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. EducationKhartoum is the main location for most of Sudan's top educational bodies, including but not limited to: High Schools
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