Sudan

Sudan, vast geographical region of northern Africa, extending east to west across the continent from Mauritania in the west to the modern Republic of Sudan in the east. It forms a semi-arid transition zone between the Sahara on the north and the wet tropical regions on the south generally coterminous with the Sahel. Desert and scrublands predominate in the north, grading into grasslands and savannah to the south. The name Sudan (Arabic, “land of the blacks”) is a reference to the various African peoples who historically have inhabited the region.