Atbarah

Atbarah
Atbarah Location in Sudan
Coordinates: 17°43′N 33°59′E / 17.717°N 33.983°E / 17.717; 33.983
Country	Sudan
Admin. division	River Nile State
Population (2007)
– Total	111,399

Atbarah (sometimes Atbara) (Arabic: عطبرة‎) is a town of 111,399 (2007) located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan. ^[1] It is located at the junction of the Nile and Atbarah rivers. It is an important railway junction and railroad manufacturing centre, and most employment in Atbarah is related to the rail lines. It is known as the "Railway City' and The National Railway Company's headquarters are actually located here in Atbarah.

History

The confluence of the Nile and its most northern tributary, the Atbarah (Bahr-el-Aswad, or Black River) was a strategic location for military operations. In the Battle of Atbara, fought on the 8 April 1898 near Nakheila, on the north bank of the river, Lord Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian army defeated the Mahdist forces, commanded by Amir Mahmud Ahmad. Kitchener's strengthened position led to a decisive victory at the Battle of Omdurman on 2 September 1898,^[2] giving the British control over the Sudan.^[3]

The first trade union in Sudan formed in 1946 among railroad workers in Atbarah. The city also is home to one of Sudan's largest cement factories (Atbara Cement Corporation). The town was the centre of the Sudanese railway industry. Few trains are made here now and rail traffic is much reduced. The original station and unusual dome-shaped houses of railway workers remain.

Perhaps because of the influence of the railway unions, Atbara is also considered by many to be the home of Sudanese communism. Jaafar Nimeiri, Sudan's president throughout the 1970s, alternated between communism, rabid capitalism and Islamic fundamentalism - depending on who he was trying to get on his side and extract money from - and the communist phase had its stronghold around Atbara.

Atbara is made up of several districts including Umbukole district which has the First Higher School in Atbara. Other districts include the railway district, Almurabaat, Alsawdana and Almatar.

Umbukole was originally the name given to a capital city in a northern state in Kurti county. It is now mostly remembered as the name of a small district in Atbara. A well-known resident is Mandour Almahdi who wrote about the History of the Sudan.

Like Khartoum further upstream, Atbara is also at the confluence of two major rivers.

Location of Atbarah within Sudan

Demographics

Year	Population[4]
1956	36.300
1973	66.116
1983	73.009
1993	87.878
2007 (Estimate)	111.399

One of the major districts of Atbara is Al-Dakhla (الداخلة)in Arabic. Some still use the name Al-Dakhla referring to Atbara.

See also

Atbarah Railway Station

• Ethiopia - border country for the Blue Nile.

Notes

1. ^ "'Atbarah, or Atbara (The Sudan)" (description), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Atbara.
2. ^ "Atbara", Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911
3. ^ Winston Churchill, The River War, 2 vols. (1899); abridged ed. Project Gutenberg (1902)
4. ^ http://bevoelkerungsstatistik.de

References

1. ^ "'Atbarah, or Atbara (The Sudan)" (description), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Atbara.
2. ^ "Atbara", Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911
3. ^ Winston Churchill, The River War, 2 vols. (1899); abridged ed. Project Gutenberg (1902)
4. ^ http://bevoelkerungsstatistik.de

• "'Atbarah, or Atbara (The Sudan)" (description), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Atbara.

External links

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Atbara". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• MSN Map - elevation = 356m

Coordinates: 17°41′50″N 33°58′42″E / 17.69722°N 33.97833°E / 17.69722; 33.97833