Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 19 Apr 2011

Migration in the Sudan during the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (1898-1955)

Page Range: 41 – 55
DOI: 10.5555/arwg.2.1.nw075u4503834527
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This paper argues that migration patterns during the Condominium were a continuation of processes already discernible during the 19th century, and that these have gained further momentum since independence. Four main migratory processes are considered: rural to urban migration and the growth of urban primacy; inter-regional movements leading to ethnic mixing in urban and rural areas; easterly migration of people from western Sudan and West Africa; and nomadism with its impact on sedentary peoples. In the aftermath of the Angl-Egyptian conquest in 1898 these processes were seemingly in reverse. The population of Omdurman dropped to 40 000. There was migration westwards and southwards as tribes returned to their former homeland areas and way of life, leading to a resurgence of nomadic activity and to a reversal in the process of ethnic mixing. However, this was a purely temporary phase. By 1955, the old migratory patterns had long since resurfaced. These processes are reviewed in the light of the results of Sudan's first census of 1955-56. Marked differences are noticed between northern and southern Sudan with the latter continuing to be peripheral to processes affecting the north, a situation to be found in the 19th century, and down to today. These various processes have occurred irrespective of the political structures in the Sudan and are to be seen in many other of the world's less developed countries.

Ce travail démontre que les réseaux de migrations durant le Condominium étaient la continuation de processus déjà existants durant le XIXème siècle, et que ceux-ci se sont accélérés depuis l'Indépendance du pays. Quatre processus migratoires ont été examinés: du monde rural au monde urbain et la croissance de la primauté urbaine; des mouvements inter-régionaux qui ont produit un brassage ethnique à la fois dans les régions urbaines et rurales; la migration vers l'est de personnes originaires de l'ouest du Soudan et de l'Afrique de l'ouest; enfin le nomadisme et ses impacts sur les populations sédentaires. Á la suite de la conquête anglo-égyptienne en 1898, ces processus semblaient fonctionner à l'envers, et la population d'Omdurman est tombé à 40 000 habitants. On notait une migration vers l'ouest et vers le sud provoquant une résurgence d'activités nomadiques et un arrêt du brassage ethnique. Cependant, ceci a constitué une phase très limite dans le temps.

Dès 1955, les anciens réseaux migratoires avaient depuis longtemps refait surface. Ces processus sont examinés à la lumière du premier recensement du Soudan en 1955-56. De fortes disparités ont été notées entre le nord et le sud du Soudan, ce dernier espace étant marginal par rapport aux processus affectant le nord, une situation persistant depuis le XIXème siècle jusqu' à nos jours. Les différents processus ont existé quelqu' aient été les structures politiques du Soudan et sont comparables à d'autres cas visibles dans d'autres pays moins développés du monde.

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