|
|
Khartoum
Arabic:
'al-khartūm
Executive capital of Sudan with 2,8 million inhabitants (2004 estimate), situated at the junction between the Blue and the White Nile.
Together with Omdurman to the west and Khartoum North to the north, form Khartoum Sudan's dominating urban centre. Omdurman serves as the legislative capital of Sudan.
Khartoum is very poor, with few exclusive areas. Few streets are paved, but the centre is well-planned, with tree-lined streets. Khartoum is the an administrative, economic and commercial centre for the whole of Sudan.
Among the city's industries are printing, food processing, textile and glass manufacturing.
The population of Khartoum is made up of all the peoples living in Sudan, making it relatively one of the least Arabic cities in the northern half of Sudan.
Khartoum has rail lines from Egypt, Port Sudan and El Obeid. The river traffic on the Blue and White Nile rivers are very important. There is also an international airport.
Khartoum has 3 universities, the University of Khartoum, Nilayin University (formerly a branch of Cairo University) and Sudan University of Science and Technology.
HISTORY
1821: Founded by Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt, as a military post controlling Sudan.
1884: Khartoum comes under siege by El Mahdi, resulting the following year in the massacre of an Anglo-Egyptian garrison and the British leader Charles Gordon.
1898: Reconquered by the British under the leadership og H. H. Kitchener.
1899: Khartoum becomes capital of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
1956: With the independence of Sudan, Khartoum becomes the capital of the country.
1977: A oil pipeline between Khartoum and Port Sudan is completed.
1998 August: A pharmaceutical factory is bombed by USA, believing it was a plant for producing biological weapons.
© Copyright 1996-2008 LookLex Ltd. All rights reserved
By: Tore Kjeilen
|
|
|
