French Sudan French Sudan French Sudan (; "") was a French colonial territory in the federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formally called French Sudan from 1890 until 1899 and then again from 1921 until 1958, and had a variety of different names over the course of its existence. The colony was initially established largely as a military project led by French troops, but in the mid-1890s it came under civilian administration. A number of administrative reorganizations in the early 1900s brought increasing French administration over issues
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