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 at the Olympics Sudan at the Olympics Sudan first participated at the Olympic Games in 1960, and has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since then. The nation did not attend the 1964 Games, boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics along with most African nations, and participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games. Ismail Ahmed Ismail, who came second in the men's 800 m in 2008, was the first Sudanese athlete to win an Olympic medal. The National Olympic Committee for Sudan was created in 1956 and recognized