Sudan (region) to the present-day country of Sudan, the western part of which forms part of the larger region, and from which South Sudan gained its independence in 2011. The Sudan region extends in some 5,000 km in a band several hundred kilometers wide across Africa. It stretches from the border of Senegal, through southern Mali (formerly known as French Sudan when it was a French colony), Burkina Faso, southern Niger, northern Nigeria, northern Ghana, southern Chad, the western Darfur region of present-day Sudan, and South Sudan. To the north of the region lies the Sahel, a more arid Acacia savanna region
History of South Sudan History of South Sudan The history of South Sudan comprises the history of the territory of present-day South Sudan and the peoples inhabiting the region. South Sudan seceded from the Republic of Sudan in 2011. Geographically, South Sudan is not part of the Sudan region at all (the Sahel), forming as it does part of Sub-Saharan Africa. In modern terminology, it does, however, include parts of the East Sudanian Savanna. Its inclusion in "Sudan" is due to the southward expansion of the Ottoman Khedivate of Egypt in the 19th century, and its consequent inclusion in Mahdist Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and