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
Sudan (region) of the White Nile. The people of the Sudan region share similar lifestyles, dictated by the geography of the region. The economy is largely pastoral, while sorghum and rice are cultivated in the southern parts of the region. The region was governed in colonial times by European powers, including the French and the British, as part of their African colonial empires, but the countries of the region achieved independence in the latter half of the 20th century. Sudan (region) The Sudan is the geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western to eastern Central Africa. The name