SUDAN

                                                                  by Max and Tony  

     Sudan is a countery with a thriving wildlife, but that also has leaders who in the near future are deciding weather or not to split te country in two.  American travelers should also practice caution due to the murder of 2 americans, and the homocides and genocides that seem to never ease.  the country has been in civil war for the mojority of its aproximate 60 years of independence.  rebles have also been a problem for sudanese militias since 2003.  one of the cuases of these conflicts is different religion in the south and north.  Muslums in the earlier 1990's constituted around 75 percent of the north of sudan, christaianity was practiced less, around 4 to 10percent of the population, as the rest held onto their origianal, forbearers religions.  most of the christaians and indiginous religions are practiced in the south.  in 1991 the SPLM controlled most of southern sudan oposed the imposition of the islamic law.

     the population of sudan ranges around 49million in the earliy years around 2000.  and, throughout all of these people, there is around 134 languages spoken!   8 are known that are now extinct.  all of these people are also split up into 7 total different tribes, but as i said, currently, sudan doesn't have tention between all seven, but simply the south and north.  -The tribe names are Nubian, Bija, Kababish, Baggara, Nuba, Nuer, and Dinka.  the climate in the more southern tribes it is more tropical and wet-and-dry.  the north is more arid.

     on a totally different subject, as i mentioned, sudan  

The Latest News in Africa  

News Article by REUTERS posted on January 21, 2009 at 22:58:26: EST (-5 GMT)

This artical was from this site http://www.sudan.net/  

Population of Sudan

41,087,825 people (world rank: 30th) (2009 estimate)  

   On Januar

Khartoum is one of three sister cities, built at the convergence of the Blue and White Niles: Omdurman to the north-west across the White Nile, North Khartoum, and Khartoum itself on the southern bank of the Blue Nile.

Khartoum has a relatively short history. It was first established as a military outpost in 1821, and is said to derive its name from the thin spit of land at the convergence of the rivers, which resembles an elephant's trunk (khurtum). Khartoum grew rapidly in prosperity during the boom years of the slave trade, between 1825 and 1880. In 1834 it became the capital of the Sudan, and many explorers from Europe used it as a base for their African expeditions.

     y 1, 2008, a group of assailants shot and killed two U.S. Embassy employees - an American USAID officer and a Sudanese national driver.  The attack was found to be ideologically motivated, and the assailants were convicted and sentenced under Sudanese law in 2009. Terrorists are known to operate in Sudan and continue to seek opportunities to carry out attacks against U.S. and European interests.  Terrorist actions may include suicide operations, bombings, or kidnappings.  U.S. citizens should be aware of the risk of indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in public places, which include tourist sites and locations where westerners are known to congregate, and commercial operations associated with U.S. or Western interests.  Terrorists are known to have targeted both official facilities and residential compounds.  Anti-western sentiment is prevalent, and U.S. citizens should exercise utmost caution at all times.

     Sudan has been at civil war for the majority of its 50 years of independence. Since 2003, another conflict between African rebels and Sudanese militias resulted in widespread violence in the Darfur region. This violence, in turn, led to genocide. The two peace agreements signed in recent months are a hopeful step towards peace and stability in the country.

Languages:
Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages
note: program of "Arabization" in process 

Sudan's time and date 

Sudan seeks global support as vote nears

UNITED NATIONS – Sudanese officials asked world leaders including President Barack Obama on Friday for international support to maintain peace as they near a critical independence referendum on south Sudan that is likely to split Africa's largest country in two.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Obama and other leaders addressed concerns that preparations for the Jan. 9 vote are lagging and urged a timely and peaceful ballot to ensure any possible transition is smooth and does not ignite a new civil war.

"There will not be a referendum in time in southern Sudan unless things change and change quickly," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi warned a high-level meeting organized by the U.N. chief.

Obama's presence at the gathering demonstrated deep U.S. interest in Sudan's future. The U.S. has offered Sudan the possibility of restored diplomatic relations if it improves conditions in the conflict-wracked western Darfur region, and does not undermine the referendum.

"What happens in Sudan in the days ahead may decide whether a people who have endured too much war move forward toward peace or slip backward into bloodshed," said Obama. "And what happens in Sudan matters to all of sub-Saharan Africa, and it matters to the world."

Zenawi said issues that still must be addressed include the demarcation of potential borders between north and south. If the problems are not dealt with, "we will have a breakdown of peace."

"Sudan is the most important issue of war and peace in Africa," the Ethiopian leader said. "If we fail, it will be a catastrophe for the whole continent. "

A 2005 peace agreement that ended a 21-year civil war between Sudan's mostly Muslim north and predominantly animist and Christian south set up the a unity government in the capital, Khartoum, as well as an autonomous government in the south. It called for the 2011 referendum on southern independence.

Sudan's Second Vice President Ali Osman Taha pledged "the strongest of commitments" to the agreement, and affirmed again that its "supreme and all important goal ... is sustainable and lasting peace for the people of Sudan, north and south and for our region and beyond ... regardless of the outcome of the referendum."

Taha called for an end to stifling economic sanctions, and for forgiveness of the country's foreign debt.

"We need the full cooperation of the international community ... if lasting peace in my country is to become a viable hope," he said.

Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir, a former rebel leader who serves as first vice president in Sudan's unity government while also leading a separate autonomous government in the south, also asked for international support.

"Now, as the greatest moment of our history approaches, it is up to all of us to ensure that the referendum is conducted without delay or reservations," Kiir said. "With your help I'm confident we can achieve our common goals."

A communique issued after Friday's meeting said that next year's referendum would not end obligations by signatories of the five-year-old peace accord to work together for a peaceful transition.

It also expressed worries about ongoing violence in the Darfur region, and "welcomed commitments by the Government of Sudan to end impunity, bring all perpetrators of crimes to justice and protect civilians."

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki told the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting that Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and Kiir assured him that the referendum will take place as scheduled, and they will accept the vote's outcome.

Kibaki is convening East Africa's Intergovernmental Authority on Development in November to ensure all goes well with the vote. Ban has formed a panel to monitor voting,

"The Sudanese people cannot afford a resumption of conflict," Ban told the gathering. "We must all assist them in finding a peaceful way through one of the most important passages in their country's history."

China also is keenly interested in the future of Sudan. It is a key source of its crude oil, and is the African nation's top supporter on the U.N. Security Council.

"Whatever the result of the referendum, it is crucial to maintain peace in Sudan and the region," said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun. He also called for increased humanitarian assistance to conflict-wracked Darfur.

Along with the Jan. 9 referendum on southern independence, the oil-rich central region of Abyei is to vote that day whether it should belong in Sudan's north or in a possible new country in the south. Leaders in the Arab-dominated north and mainly black African south are in a tug-of-war over Abyei, home to oil fields worth hundreds of millions of dollars.` 

http://climatelab.org/Climate_Change_Security

Source: Camp. Author: Mark Knobil. Permission: Wikimedia Commons.

Population displacement in the context of climate change is the migration of people from resource scarce land to resource abundant land due to environmental changes, such as desertification and water shortages. As the effects of climate change alter the supply of resources, large groups of populations are forced to migrate to more fertile and abundant regions.Through the combination of decreasing resources and migrating populations, groups of people are forced to converge on occupied or foreign territory, causing strife and conflict in the regions experiencing population influxes. Sea level rise could also result in displacement by causing population to relocate due to eroding land. More than 25 percent of the African population lives within 100 kilometers of the  coast and 10 major cities are port cities located on the coast.  As early as 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that "the greatest effect of climate change may be human migration: millions of people will be displaced due to shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and agricultural disruption."