Al Fashir, Al-Fashir or El Fasher ( ar, الفاشر) is the capital city of
North Darfur
North Darfur State ( ar, ولاية شمال دارفور Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and a ...
,
Sudan. It is a large town in the
Darfur region of northwestern Sudan, northeast of
Nyala, Sudan.
[
]
"Al-Fashir" (description)
''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'', 2007, webpage:
A historical
caravan post, Al-Fashir is located at an elevation of about .
[ The town serves as an agricultural marketing point for the cereals and fruits grown in the surrounding region. Al-Fashir is linked by road with both ]Geneina
Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah) ( ar, الجنينة, lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of dar Masalit region, that joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani agreement signed between the Masalit Sultanate ...
and Umm Keddada. Al-Fashir had 264,734 residents , an increase from 2001, when the population was estimated to be 178,500.[
]Al Fashir University
Al Fashir University is a public university in al-Fashir, the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan.
Foundation
The university was created in 1990 by decree of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, and was officially opened in February 1991 in prem ...
was created in 1990 by decree of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, and was officially opened in February 1991 in premises west of El Fasher Airport and south of the El Fashir School.
History
Late in the 18th century, Sultan 'Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed of the Darfur Sultanate moved his itinerant court (''fashir'') to a site called Rahad Tendelti while campaigning in the region of northern Darfur as it was a superb spot for a settlement and grazing, eventually the site was renamed to Al-Fashir. A town developed around the sultan's palace grounds.[ It was one of the cities Amelia Earhart visited while attempting to circle the world.
]
Climate
Al-Fashir has a hot arid climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BWh'') with three distinct seasons. There is a bone-dry and relatively "cool" season from October to February when temperatures are merely hot by afternoon and comfortable in the mornings, which gives way to a sweltering and equally arid "hot season" from March to May with high temperatures around and morning lows of . The Sahelian monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
arrives in June and lasts until September, creating a short wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
that produces virtually all the year's rainfall of around , accompanied by extremely unpleasant conditions with much higher humidity than during the remainder of the year.
Economy
Due to the nearby Abu Shouk
Abu or ABU may refer to:
Places
* Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan
* Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan
* Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria
* Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
and Al Salam IDP camps with the influx of humanitarian aid from the United Nations as a result of the Darfur crisis
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups bega ...
, the city has experienced a significant economic and population boom. Rents and retail sales increased, including the selling of bottled water and the opening of a pizza parlor to cater to the demand from western aid workers. The number of gas stations has tripled in three years as a result of the increase in the amount of automobiles in the city. Employment opportunities also increased as the United Nations offered jobs to citizens. Economics analyst Adam Ahmed stated that the "people f Al-Fashirare beginning to think in a more business-minded way" to make the most of their situation.[Sanders, Edmund]
A Darfur capital is a humanitarian boomtown
''Los Angeles Times'', 2008-04-30.
See also
* Chad – border country near Nyala, Sudan.
* History of Darfur
Throughout its history, Darfur has been the home to several cultures and kingdoms, like the mythical Tora or the Daju and Tunjur kingdoms. The recorded history of Darfur begins in the seventeenth century, with the foundation of the Fur Sultanat ...
Notes
External links
Adventures of Sudan: Al-Fashir
Historical weather for Al-Fashir
{{Authority control
Fashir
State capitals in Sudan
Capitals of former nations
Fashir