Khartoum is the capital of The Sudan. It is located south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers and is known as Al-Khurtum in Arabic, meaning 'Elephant's Trunk.'

Khartoum was initially an Egyptian army camp, pitched in 1821. It then became an army town. This was wrecked by the Mahdists in 1885. Khartoum was reoccupied in 1898 and was the seat of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan government till 1956. Then the city became the capital of the independent republic of The Sudan.

Today, Khartoum is connected via train lines to Egypt, Port Sudan and Al-Ubbayyid. River traffic also exists, and as a result of these, trade and communications have a great market here. Universities, churches and mosques abound here, and this is the location of the Sudan National Museum.

Since there have been many immigrants to this region from other parts of Africa, the influence of the Arabic culture is not as marked as other towns, although the majority of the population speaks Arabic.The city supports a population of around a million.

[ Western Africa - Northern Africa - Eastern Africa ]
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