Shukria

The Shukria are a large tribe of African nomads living in the "Island of Meroe," i.e. the country between the Atbara and the Blue Nile, in modern central Sudan, southwest of the city of Khartoum. The family name of the principal, branch of this tribe is Abu Sin, and Gedaref, an important town in the center of the Shukria country, was formerly called Suk Abu Sin.

They live primarily in rural villages and settlements situated along small waterways. These villages are of two different types: large villages, and the other more popular style, villages strung out along the Nile River in a continuous chain of closely adjacent huts.

The Shukria are primarily Sunni Muslims. One of the smallest groups of Arabs in Sudan, the Shukria compose less than 1% of Sudan's total population. They speak an Arabic dialect called Shukriyya, or Badawi.

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