30th June: Sudan Revolution Day

It's Revolution Day in Sudan, so today, ten things you didn't know about Sudan.

1. With an area of 1,886,068 km2 (728,215 sq mi) Sudan is the third largest country in Africa and the 16th largest in the world. It is a quarter of the size of the USA. Until 2011, it was the largest country in Africa, before South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum.
2. The name Sudan means "Land of the Blacks", while the name Kartoum, the capital city, means Elephant trunk in Arabic because it stands on a large bend in the Nile River.
3. The Blue and White Nile rivers meet in Khartoum to form the River Nile, which divides the country into eastern and western halves.
4. There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt. Sudan was once part of the Egyptian empire and has over 230 pyramids while Egypt has about 100.
5. Sudan is nicknamed the Arab world food basket as it accounts for 45% of arable land in the Arab world. It also has rich mineral resources including asbestos, chromite, cobalt, Copper, Gold, granite, gypsum, Iron, kaolin, Lead, manganese, mica, natural gas, nickel, petroleum, Silver, Tin, Uranium and Zinc.
6. In Sudan there is a tradition called "ghost marriage". If a man dies without an heir, his brother marries his widow and any children they have are deemed to be the children of the dead brother. Another marriage tradition is for a bride not to wash for 40 days before her wedding. Instead, she sits in a smoke bath of burning perfumed acacia wood twice a day and her body is covered in aromatic oils. Her body is covered in a thick layer of oil and soot which is peeled off on the final day to reveal beautiful, glowing skin underneath.
7. Sudan was the first Muslim and Arab country to appoint a female as a judge, in the 1960s. Sudan also had the first female parliamentarian in Africa and the Middle East in 1965 and the first female Minister of Health in 1974.
8. About 400 BC, the ox-driven water wheel was introduced to Sudan, and still plays a vital role in the country’s economy today.
9. Deriba Caldera (3,042 m or 9,980 ft), is the highest point in Sudan. It consists of an outer crater between 5 km and 8 km in diameter and an inner crater filled by a crater lake.
10. The Khartoum League is considered to be the oldest Football league in Africa.