Umm Ruwaba, also Umm Ruwabah ( ar, أم روابة; Ruaba and Umm Ruaba), is a city in the
state
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of
North Kurdufan in
Sudan and is the capital of the
Umm Ruwabah District. By road it is located southeast of
El Obeid, and west of
Rabak. Founded by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1820, it is at the junction of important roads and camel caravan routes.
History
On 27 April 2013, the town was attacked by the
Sudanese Revolutionary Front, a rebel alliance. The government was able to 'contain' the attack, but sparked local protests over lack of security in the region.
Geography
Umm Ruwaba lies in southern central Sudan in the semi-arid region of the
Sahel. It has an average annual precipitation of 300 to 450
millimeters.
Local aquifers are considered to be productive and are the source of water for many wells in the region.
Water is typically extracted from depths of 300 to 400 ft, although some boreholes have been dug as far as 1000 ft.
Geologically it lies in the Tertiary-Quaternary
Umm Ruwaba Basin, composed mainly of fine-grained
lacustrine
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
and
fluviatile sediments.
Economy
Lying in this part of the Sahel, Umm Ruwaba is prone to recurring periods of drought,
land degradation
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious o ...
and famine. The famine of 1983–1985 had a severe impact on the area and caused food riots in the city.
Its principal crops are millet and sorghum for home consumption, and sesame for sale in the local markets, and the city is an important storage area for many farmers in the district.
The
Sudan Roads and Bridges Department
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
has been looking to improve road communications between the city and
El Obeid.
Demographics and religion
The main ethnic groups in the city are
Gawamma and
Shanabla peoples. Traditionally it is an Islamic area,
but a 1980 report documented that an anti-Islamic organisation had converted some 40 families in Umm Ruwaba from Islam to Christianity.
Notable people
*
Mamoun Beheiry
Mamoun Ahmed Abdel Wahab Beheiry (October 1925 – August 2002) was a Sudanese economist, known for his contributions to African and Arab banking establishments.
Education
Following earlier education at Wad Madani primary schools, Beheiry a ...
, economist, first commissioner of the
Bank of Sudan and first president of the
African Development Bank, (born October 1, 1925)
*
Talal Nayer, political cartoonist, painter, and filmmaker, (born January 13, 1983)
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in North Kurdufan