Darfur, ( Arabic: “Land of the Fur”) also called Western Darfur, historical region of the Billād al-Sūdān (Arabic: “Land of the Blacks”), roughly corresponding to the westernmost portion of the present-day Sudan. It lay between Kordofan to the east and Wadai to the west and extended southward to the Al-Ghazāl (Gazelle) River and northward to the Libyan Desert.
Geography
Darfur consists of an immense rolling plain that has an area of approximately 170,000 square miles (440,000 square km). The volcanic highlands of the Marrah Mountains dominate the central part of this plain. The Marrah Mountains have an average elevation of 7,200 feet (2,200 metres), with the highest peak, Mount Marrah, rising to 10,131 feet (3,088 metres). Elsewhere the sparsely populated plains of Darfur are relatively featureless and arid, particularly in the north, where they merge into the Libyan Desert. Soils, which are generally stony or sandy, support some seasonal grass and low thorny shrubs with tropical maquis vegetation. The Marrah highlands receive heavier rainfall than other parts of Darfur, and a number of large wadis (seasonal watercourses) rise in the mountains and flow southward across the plains.
Arabs have long constituted the majority of the population in the northern part of Darfur, while Arabs and Fur have predominated in the southern portion. Other ethnic groups have included the Beja, Zaghawa, Nubian, and Daju peoples. Heavy rainfall in the Marrah highlands permits the intensive cultivation of cereals, rice, and fruits. Crops grown at other locations in the southern part of Darfur include sorghum, millet, sesame, peanuts (groundnuts), other root crops, and vegetables. In the arid north, camels, sheep, and goats are raised. Traditional handicrafts include leatherwork, wood carving, and carpet weaving. Nyala and Al-Fāshir are the principal towns.
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Historical region of Darfur.
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The Nilotic Sudan in ancient and medieval times.
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Two children at a camp for displaced persons near Al-Fāshir, in the Darfur region of Sudan, 2006.
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Map showing Darfur-related conflict zones and campsites for refugees and internally displaced peoples (IDPs) in The Sudan, Central African Republic, and Chad, 2008.
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Residents of eastern Chad fleeing violence in the neighbouring Darfur region of The Sudan make their way toward a camp for internally displaced persons near the village of Goz Bagar.
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At a peacekeeping base in the Darfur region of The Sudan, injured African Union soldiers are carried to a waiting helicopter to be evacuated for medical treatment. The camp was attacked by Sudanese Liberation Army rebels on September 30.
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People who have fled the Darfur region of The Sudan travel by donkey past a makeshift school at a refugee camp in Chad, about 30 km (18 mi) from the border. Chad’s relations with The Sudan were strained during the year.