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El-Obeid

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

El-Obeid is a busy capital city in Sudan. It is the main center for the state of North Kordofan.

Flag of Sudan
Flag of Sudan

The name means "the White" in Arabic. This city is a very important place for travel and trade. Many national roads meet in this town. It is also the end of a long rail line. Even camel caravans and pilgrims from Nigeria use these routes to reach it.

Getting around the city and the country has changed over time. New paved asphalt roads make travel much easier now. Private bus companies help people move between towns. You can reach the capital, Khartoum, in about nine hours by coach. It takes about three hours to reach Um Kadada in Darfur. The city also has its own airport for travelers.

Flag of Sudan
Flag of Sudan

This city has a long and changing history. Pashas from Ottoman Egypt founded it in 1821. The city faced hard times when the Mahdists attacked in 1882. It was destroyed in 1883 but later rebuilt in 1898. This new version used a modern plan. More recently, the city saw conflict during the Sudanese civil war. In September 2023, the Sudanese Army took control of the city again.

The weather in El-Obeid is very hot. It has a semi-desert climate. This means it is mostly dry but can have some rain. The wet season lasts from June to September. During these months, the air feels quite humid. The hottest months are April, May, and June. The coolest times of the year are December and January.

Flag of Sudan
Flag of Sudan

Many different things happen in El-Obeid every day. It is a center for business where people trade millet and oilseeds. They also sell livestock and gum arabic. The University of Kordofan was started in 1990. It is one of the largest universities in the whole country. Most people here are Muslim, but there are also Christians. The city has a large Catholic Cathedral called Our Lady Queen of Africa. This church was built in an Italian style between 1961 and 1964.

Flag of Sudan
Flag of Sudan
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