Early History

Three ancient Kushite kingdoms existed consecutively in northern Sudan. This region was also known as Nubia and Meroe, and these civilizations flourished mainly along the Nile River from the first to the sixth cataracts. The kingdoms were influenced by, and in turn influenced Pharaonic Egypt. In ancient times, Nubia was ruled by Egypt from 1500 BC, to around 1000BC when the Napatan Dynasty was founded under Alara and regained independance for the kingdom of Kush although borders fluctuated greatly.

Christianity was introduced by missionaries in the 3rd or 4th century, and much of the region was converted to Coptic Christianity. Islam was introduced in 640 AD with an influx of Muslim Arabs who had conquered Egypt, although the Christian Kingdoms of Nubia managed to persist until the 15th Century.

A merchant class of Arabs became economically dominant in feudal Sudan.

In 1820, Northern Sudan came under Egyptian rule and the Egyptians developed Sudan’s trade in ivory and slaves.

In the 1890s the British sought to regain control of Sudan and an agreement was reached in 1899 establishing Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, under which Sudan was run by a governor-general appointed by Egypt with British consent. In reality, Sudan was a colony of Great Britain.  From 1924, until independence in 1956, the British had a policy of running Sudan as two essentially separate colonies, the south and the north.

Independence

Britain agreed to Sudanese independence after the 1952 revolution in Egypt but the year before independence, a civil war began between Northern and Southern Sudan. Southerners, who knew independence was coming, were afraid the new nation would be dominated by the North. The North of Sudan had historically closer ties with Egypt and was predominately Arab and Muslim. The South of Sudan was predominately black, with a mixture of Christianity and Animism.

The second civil war went for more than 20 years, resulting in the deaths of 2.2 million Christians and Animists, and displacing roughly 4.5 million people within Sudan and into neighbouring countries. It damaged Sudan’s economy and led to food shortages, resulting in starvation and malnutrition. The lack of investment during this time, particularly in the south, meant a generation lost access to basic health services, education, and jobs.

Peace talks between the southern rebels and the government made substantial progress in 2003 and early 2004. The peace was consolidated with the official signing by both sides of the Naivasha treaty on 9 January 2005, granting Southern Sudan autonomy for six years, to be followed by a referendum about independence. It created a co-vice president position and allowed the north and south to split oil equally, but also left both the North's and South's armies in place. John Garang, the south's elected co-vice president died in a helicopter crash on August 1, 2005, three weeks after being sworn in. This resulted in riots, but the peace was eventually able to continue.

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was established under UN Security Council Resolution 1590 of March 24, 2005. Its mandate is to support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and to perform functions relating to humanitarian assistance, and protection and promotion of human rights.

Information source from Wikipedia.