Darfur Region

News: An attack on a ⁠hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region has killed at least ‌64 people, including 13 children, according to the head of ⁠the World ⁠Health Organization (WHO).

About Darfur Region

• Location: It is a region of western Sudan bordering Chad, Libya, and the Central African Republic.
• 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.
• Area: It covers an area of 493,180 sq. km, approximately the size of mainland Spain.
• Topography: It is largely a semi-desert plateau.
• The volcanic highlands of the Marrah Mountains (with average elevation of 2,200 m) dominate the central part of this plain.
• Highest peak: Mount Marrah (3,088 m).
• Towns: The region’s main towns are Al Fashir, Geneina, and Nyala.
• People: Arabs have long constituted the majority of the population in the northern part of Darfur, while Arabs and Fur have predominated in the southern
  • The name “Darfur” is derived from “dar fur,” meaning “the land of the Fur” in Arabic.
  • Other ethnic groups have included the Beja, Zaghawa, Nubian, and Daju peoples.
• In focus: Because of the War in Darfur between Sudanese government forces and the indigenous population, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency and genocide since 2003.