Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ar, عطبرة ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in

River Nile State River Nile ( ar, ولاية نهر النيل, Nahr an Nīl) is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 122,123 km² (47,152 mi²) and an estimated population of 1,027,534 (2006). It is made up of seven localities. ...

in northeastern

Sudan 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 ...

.EB-Atbara "'Atbarah, or Atbara (The Sudan)" (description), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007, webpage
/ref> Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the "Railway City'. As of 2007, its population is 111,399.

History

The confluence of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

and its most northern tributary, the

Atbarah River The Atbarah River ( ar, نهر عطبرة; transliterated: Nahr 'Atbarah), also known as the Black Nile, is a river in northeast Africa. It rises in northwest Ethiopia, approximately 50 km north of Lake Tana and 30 km west of Gondar. ...

(Bahr-el-Aswad, or Black River) was a strategic location for military operations. in the year 1619 Atbara was conquered and sacked by forces of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

. In the

Battle of Atbara The Battle of Atbara also known as the Battle of the Atbara River took place during the Second Sudan War. Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated 15,000 Sudanese rebels, called Mahdists or Dervishes, on the banks of the River Atbara. The battle proved to ...

, fought on 8 April 1898 near Nakheila, on the north bank of the river, Lord Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian army defeated the

Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...

st forces, commanded by Amir Mahmud Ahmad. Kitchener's strengthened position led to a decisive victory at the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief ( sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the ...

on 2 September 1898, giving the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

control over the Sudan. 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. The first

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

in Sudan formed in 1946 among

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

workers in Atbara. Perhaps because of the influence of the railway unions, Atbara is also considered by many to be the home of Sudanese communism.

Jaafar Nimeiri Jaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Jaafar Nimeiry, Gaafar Nimeiry or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ar, جعفر محمد النميري; 26 April 192830 May 2009) was a Sudanese politician who served as the president of Sud ...

, Sudan's president throughout the 1970s, alternated between communism, 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 was also the starting point for mobilizations against the regime in December 2018.

Geography

Atbara is located at the junction of the

and

Atbarah Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ar, عطبرة ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan. Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the "Railway City'. As of 2007, its population is 11 ...

rivers. Atbara is made up of several districts including Umbukole district which was home to 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. One of the major districts of Atbara is Al-Dakhla (الداخلة) in Arabic. Some still use the name Al-Dakhla referring to Atbara.

Economy

Atbara is an important railway junction and railroad manufacturing centre, and most employment in Atbara is related to the rail lines. The Sudanese National Railway Company's headquarters are located in Atbara. The city also is home to one of Sudan's largest cement factories, the Atbara Cement Corporation.

Climate

Atbara has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''BWh''). The annual mean temperature reaches over 30 °C (86 °F) and the average highs exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during 7 months of the year. The annual average rainfall is 60 mm, mostly from July and August. Atbara is sunny, averaging 3,545 hours of bright sunshine per year or 81% of possible sunshine. Another chart with different averages is shown below.

Demographics

Notable residents

A well-known resident was

Mandour Elmahdi Mandour El Mahdi (March 1919 – October 1981) was a Sudanese administrator and educator. He was one of the key pioneers in the development of Education in Sudan after the country's independence from the United Kingdom in 1956, and he later beca ...

, who wrote ''

A Short History of the Sudan ''A Short History of The Sudan'' (تاريخ السودان) (Oxford University Press) is a history book which concerns the development of Sudan from the earliest times until the conclusion of the condominium era and the attainment of indepen ...

''.

References

External links

FallingRain Map - elevation = 356m (Red dots are railways)
{{Authority control Populated places in River Nile (state)