Sennar

For other uses, see Sennar (disambiguation).

Sennar
Sennar Location in Sudan
Coordinates: 13°33′N 33°35′E / 13.55°N 33.583°E / 13.55; 33.583Coordinates: 13°33′N 33°35′E / 13.55°N 33.583°E / 13.55; 33.583
city	Sudan
State	Blue Nile State
Population (2007)
– Total	143,059

Sennar (Arabic: سنار‎ Sannār) is a town on the Blue Nile in Sudan and capital of the state of Sennar. For several centuries it was the capital of the Funj Kingdom of Sennar. It had an estimated population of 100,000 inhabitants in the early 19th century.^[1] The modern town lies 17km SSE of the ruins of the ancient capital. It is located close to Sennar Dam, which spurred agricultural activity when it was created in 1925 for crop irrigation. The Sinnar Dam was designed, built and subsequently managed by the English engineer, Stephen "Roy" Sherlock.

Today there are two towns bearing the name Sennar. Sennar Junction, the older one, which represents an actual continuation to the ancient Sennar, both in time and geographical location, the junction element came from the fact that many railways intersect there, it being in the heart of the country, which accompanied the invasion of Sudan during the British colonisation at the end of eighteenth century. The other is Sennar Al-Madeena (i.e Sennar Town), 5km ESE of the Junction, located beside the Sennar Dam. It was built over the ruins of a small village called Mok-waar which was notable in the former cultures of the tribes of African origins who lived there before the arrival of Arab tribes to the Sudan.

The city is home to Sinnar University, established in 1977.^[2]

Demographics

Year	Population[3]
1973 (Census)	28.546
1983 (Census)	42.803
1993 (Census)	72.187
2007 (Estimate)	143.059

See also

• Railway stations in Sudan

References

1. ^ Walker, John (1810). "Sennar". The Universal Gazetteer. revised and improved by Arthur Kershaw (5th ed.). London: J. Johnson. OCLC 33422506. http://books.google.com/books?id=9i89AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PT565. 
2. ^ "Sinar University". African Studies Center. http://africa.isp.msu.edu/AUP/instinfo.htm?id=1218. Retrieved 2011-09-17. 
3. ^ http://bevoelkerungsstatistik.de