Darfur

Darfur, region and former sultanate, W Sudan. The region is mountainous, dominated by the central massif of Jebel Marra, which rises to 10,130 ft (3,088 m). Much of the terrain is dry plateau, and there are sand dunes in the extreme north. The region is divided into the states of North, West, and South Darfur. The Fur (for whom the area is named) and the Baggara are the major ethnic groups. Darfur's economy is based on subsistence agriculture. Cattle, sheep, and goats are raised in the north.

The rulers of Cush, which fell c.A.D. 350, may have established a dynasty in Darfur. Christian kingdoms emerged in the period between 900 and 1200, but they were destroyed by Muslim incursions from Kanem in the mid-13th cent. Fur, a major kingdom probably founded in the 15th cent., pushed aside the Kanem rulers in the 17th cent. Fur was conquered by the Egyptians in 1874 and by the Mahdists (see Mahdi) of Sudan in 1883. With the fall of the Mahdist state in 1898, Darfur became a semiautonomous sultanate under Anglo-Egyptian suzerainty. The sultan attempted to expel the foreign colonizers during World War I, but his forces were defeated by the British in 1916, and Darfur was incorporated into Sudan.

Since 2003 the region has been scene of fighting, with Sudanese government forces and their allied Arab militias (the janjaweed) battling non-Arab rebels originally linked to an opposition party, but the conflict has gradually widened to include fighting between allied groups on both sides, as both rebels and militias have splintered. Warfare also has spilled over into Chad, and Chadian rebels have based themselves in parts of Darfur. An African Union (AU) peacekeeping force was established in the region beginning in Aug., 2004; the force, which officially became a joint UN-AU operation in Dec., 2007, has not been effective. Attempts to establish a cease-fire have produced only temporary results.

An estimated 300,000 persons have died in the fighting or from disease, hunger, and other causes arising from the fighting, and some 2.7 million people have been made refugees. The government and janjaweed have been accused by some of genocide, and in 2009 Sudan's president was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court; in retaliation, Sudan ordered aid agencies to leave Darfur (and other parts of Sudan).

Historical region and former province, western Sudan. It was an independent kingdom from circa 2500 BCE. Its first traditional rulers, the Daju, probably traded with ancient Egypt; they were succeeded by the Tunjur. Darfur's Christian period (circa 900–1200) was ended by the advance of Islam with the empire of Kanem-Bornu. In the 1870s Darfur came under Egyptian rule, and in 1916 it became a province of Sudan. Long-standing ethnic tensions between Arab nomads and sedentary Fur and other agriculturalists erupted in the late 1980s, and sporadic violence ensued. The conflict escalated in 2003, when rebels among the agriculturalist population began attacking government installations in protest of perceived neglect of non-Arabs and of the country's western region. The government responded with the creation of the Janjaweed (also spelled Jingaweit or Janjawid) militia, which attacked sedentary groups in Darfur. Despite a 2004 cease-fire and the subsequent presence of international peacekeeping troops, by 2007 hundreds of thousands of people had been killed and more than two million displaced.

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Darfur is a city in Watonwan County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 137 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²), all of it land.

Minnesota State Highway 30 serves as a main route in the community.

History

Darfur was platted in April of 1899 by the Chicago and North Western Railway, its incorporation as a village was completed on December 31, 1903. The town name is given two possible origins by Warren Upham: either it was named for the western region of Sudan known as Darfur, or it was adopted with a good humor in memory of two Scandinavian railroad workers who queried, "Why you stop dar fur?"

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 137 people, 58 households, and 44 families residing in the city. The population density was 386.6 people per square mile (151.1/km²). There were 59 housing units at an average density of 166.5/sq mi (65.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 134 white people and 3 asian people. There are no blacks or Hispanics.

There were 58 households out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.1% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.64.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 13.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 117.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,563, and the median income for a family was $32,750. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,300. There were 4.1% of families and 7.1% of the population living below the poverty line, including 5.6% of under eighteen and none of those over 64.

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