The three states comprising Darfur within Sudan

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Darfur (Arabic: دار فور‎ daar foor, lit. "home of the Fur people") is a region in Sudan that has been in the news because of the persistent unrest and civilian impact. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur which are coordinated by a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Due to the Darfur Conflict, the region is in a state of humanitarian emergency. Darfur may mean or refer to: Darfur, a region of far western Sudan. ... Image File history File links Darfur_map. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Arabic redirects here. ... For other uses, see Sultan (disambiguation). ... This article discusses the Anglo-Egyptian rule during the history of Sudan from 1899 to 1955. ... West Darfur West Darfur (Gharb Darfur) is one of the 26 states of Sudan, and one of three comprising the Darfur region. ... South Darfur South Darfur (Janub Darfur) is one of the 26 wilayat or states of Sudan. ... North Darfur North Darfur (Shamal Darfur) is one of the 26 wilayat or states of Sudan. ... The Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) is an interim authority for the Darfur region of Sudan. ... Combatants JEM factions NRF alliance Janjaweed SLM (Minnawi)  Sudan African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Commanders Ibrahim Khalil Ahmed Diraige Omar al-Bashir Minni Minnawi Luke Aprezi Strength N/A N/A 7,000 The Darfur conflict is a crisis in the...

Geography

Darfur covers an area of some 493,180 km² (196,555 miles²)—just over 90% the size of France and 87% as large as Kenya.^{[citation needed]} It is largely an arid plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3000 m (10,100 ft), in the center of the region. The region's main towns are Al Fashir, Nyala, and Geneina. The Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra, Arabic: ‎ bad (bitter?) mountains) is a range of volcanic peaks created by a massif that rises up to 3,000 m. ... Al Fashir (Arabic: الفاشر) is a capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. ... Nyala is the capital of South Darfur State in the western part of the Sudan. ... Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah) is the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan. ...

The Republic of Sudan is on the southeastern border of Egypt, and lies on the western shore of the Red Sea. There are four main features of the physical geography. The whole eastern half of Darfur is covered with plains and low hills of sandy soils, known as goz, and sandstone hills. In many places the goz is waterless and can only be inhabited where there are water reservoirs or deep boreholes. While dry, goz may also support rich pasture and arable land. To the north the goz is overtaken by the desert sands of the Sahara. A second feature are the wadis, which range from seasonal watercourses that flood only occasionally during the wet season to large wadis that flood for most of the rains and flow from western Darfur hundreds of miles west to Lake Chad. Many wadis have pans of alluvium with rich soil that are also difficult to cultivate. Western Darfur is dominated by the third feature, basement rock, sometimes covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. Basement rock is too infertile to be farmed, but provides sporadic forest cover that can be grazed by animals. The fourth and final feature are the Marrah Mountains, volcanic plugs created by a massif, that rise up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water. In geography, a plain is a large area of land with relatively low relief. ... Hills redirects here. ... For other uses, see Sand (disambiguation). ... This article is about the geological formation. ... Water borehole in northern Uganda A borehole is a deep and narrow shaft in the ground used for abstraction of fluid or gas reserves below the earths surface. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Wadi alMujib, Jordan A wadi (Arabic: ) is traditionally a valley. ... Flooding near Key West, Florida, United States from Hurricane Wilmas storm surge in October 2005 For other uses, see Flood (disambiguation). ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, to wash against) is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other running water. ... Basement rock usually refers to the thick foundation of ancient, and oldest metamorphic and igneous rock that forms the crust of continents, often in the form of granite. ... The Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra, Arabic: ‎ bad (bitter?) mountains) is a range of volcanic peaks created by a massif that rises up to 3,000 m. ... In geology, a massif is a section of a planets crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. ... The Deriba Crater is at the highest point of Jebel Marra in Darfur, in the West of Sudan, at an elevation of 3,042 m (9,980 ft). ...

Street scene in Geneina, capital of West Darfur

The rainy season is from June through September, transforming much of the region from dusty brown to verdant green. As much of the population of Darfur is agricultural, the rains are vital. In normal years, pearl millet, a mainstay crop is ready to be harvested by November. Once harvested, the dry stalks may be fed to domestic livestock. In the far northern desert, years may pass between rainfall; during these times, local women frequently prostitute themselves for pebbles with which to build their nests. In the far south, annual average rainfall is 700 mm and many trees remain green year-round.^[1] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah) is the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan. ... West Darfur West Darfur (Gharb Darfur) is one of the 26 states of Sudan, and one of three comprising the Darfur region. ... Binomial name (L.) R. Br. ...

Remote sensing has detected the imprint of a vast underground lake under Darfur. The potential water deposits are estimated at 19,110 square miles. The lake, during epochs when the region was more humid, would have contained about 607 cubic miles of water.^[2] It may have dried up thousands of years ago.^[3] For the purported psychic ability to sense remotely, see Remote viewing right Synthetic aperture radar image of Death Valley colored using polarimetry In the broadest sense, remote sensing is the short or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real...

Government

The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur. The Darfur Agreement established a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) as an interim authority for the region.^[4] The agreement states that a referendum on autonomy for Darfur should be held no later than 2011.^[5] Minni Minnawi is the current Chairperson of the TDRA. West Darfur West Darfur (Gharb Darfur) is one of the 26 states of Sudan, and one of three comprising the Darfur region. ... South Darfur South Darfur (Janub Darfur) is one of the 26 wilayat or states of Sudan. ... North Darfur North Darfur (Shamal Darfur) is one of the 26 wilayat or states of Sudan. ... The Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) is an interim authority for the Darfur region of Sudan. ...

Other

The scarce natural resources are a cause for fighting among the Arab Africans of Darfur and the Black African Farmers. The president of the Country, Omar al-Bashir an Arab, created a mercernary group, the Janjaweed, to flush out the Black African Farmers by any means neccessary. This includes torture, rape, murder, and starving of the people in Darfur.Some even go so far as amputating limbs of Black Africans as a warning to others.This attacking of Black Africans is known as genocide. Many Darfurians have fled to Chad and UN forces are attempting to send food by air, but the Janjaweed get there first and take the food or kill the first Black Africans to get to the rations. Since China and the Beijing 2008 Olympics are supporting the economy of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir uses the money to buy weapons, food, vehicles, and whatever else they need to get the natural resources from Darfur.

See also

• War in Darfur
• Transitional Darfur Regional Authority
• History of Darfur
• Sudan

The Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) is an interim authority for the Darfur region of Sudan. ... The recorded history of Darfur begins in the 14th century with the establishment of a Tunjur sultanate. ...

Notes and references

Coordinates: 13°00′N, 25°00′E Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pronounced is known as a financial market data provider and a news service that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...