For most of us in the United States, the huge African country of Sudan is “out of sight.” But change is going on there that may affect us all.
Sudan, south of destabilized Egypt in northeastern Africa, has big expanses of desert. But oil wealth makes Sudan important to the world. As Egypt was once, Sudan was part of the British Empire, though it has been independent for decades.
Its more than 43 million people have varied backgrounds. About 52 percent are blacks, largely in the south, and 39 percent are Arabs, concentrated in the north. Plus there is a small segment of “other” tribesmen.
But the vast country – it is nearly four times the size of Texas, with almost twice Texas’ population – has just divided into two countries. After a long civil war that killed millions, the southern Sudanese have seceded – by an apparently peaceful referendum – from northern Sudan, with the dividing border still to be settled.
Much of Sudan’s revenue comes from its oil resources, so details are being hammered out on a deal to divide the proceeds from that oil.
It will be interesting to our oil-thirsty world how this all works out.