Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1479

 EGYPTIAN SUDAN 1123

EGYPTIAN SUDAN.

The rule of Egypt in the Sudan, after liaving gradually extended during the course ot 60 years, was interrupted in 1882 by the revolt of the Mahdi, who, with his successor, as the Khu,lifa, held the country for about sixteen years under a desolating tyranny. In 1897 the Anglo-Egyptian army com- menced operations for the recovery of the lost provinces, and on September 2, 1898, the overthrow of the Khalifa was completed.

A convention between the British and Egyptian Governments, signed at Cairo, January 19, 1899, provides for the administration of the territory south of the 22nd parallel of latitude by a Ciovernor-General, appointed by Egypt with the assent of Great Britain, and declares the general principles in accordance with which the administration shall be carried on. The British and Egyptian flags shall be used together ; laws shall be made by proclama- tion ; no duties shall be levied on imports from Egypt, and duties on imports from other countries shall not exceed those levied in Egypt ; the mixed tribunals shall have jurisdiction only in Suakim ; the import and export of slaves is prohibited, and special attention shall be paid to the Brussels Act of 1890 respecting the import and export of arms, ammunition, and spirits.

The Sudan has been divided into ibur rtrst-class districts, viz. : Omdurman (extending to Abu Haras on the Blue Nile, and to Abu Hasa on the White Nile), Senair, Kassala, and Fashoda ; and into three second-class districts, Assuan, Wady Haifa, and Suakim ; and six military governors have been appointed. The cost of administration must for a time be largely borne by Egypt. For 1899 the receipts to be collected in the Sudan are estimated at £E39,000, and the expenditure at £Ea56,755, leaving a balance of £E317,355 to be made up by Egypt.

Extending southwards from the frontier of Egypt to Lake Albert Nyanza, a distance of about 1,400 miles, and stretching from the Red Sea to the contines of Wadai in Central Africa (though the western limit is undefined), the subject territory has an area of about 950,000 square miles, and, before the revolt, the population was estimated at about 10,000,000. The provinces of which it consists are Dongola, Khartum, Suakim, Senaar, Kordofan, Darfur, and the Equatorial Province with Fazogli and Bahr-el-Ghazal, Massawa, which was formerly Egyptian, now belongs to the Italian Eed Sea Colony ; Harrar was, bj' agreement, made over to Abyssiijia ; while Zaila and Berbera now belong to British Somaliland. The chief towns are Khartum, the capital, reduced to ruins by the Dervishes, but now being restored ; Omdurman, recently the Dervish capital ; Wady Haifa, New Dongola, El Obeid, Senaar, Kassala, and Suakim.

Before the Dervish revolt a considerable trade was carried on with Egypt, the chief exports being gold-dust, ostrich feathers, gitms, hides, and skins, while the imports consisted of various European and Oriental wares.

Governor-General. — Lord Kitchener of Khartttm

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Egypt and the Egyptian Sudan.

1. Official Publications.

Administration. CoiTespondence respecting tlie Reorganisation of Egypt. London, 1883. Reports by Mr. Villiers Stuart respecting Reorganisation of Egypt. London, 1883 and 1895. Despatch from Lord DufTerin forwarding the Decree constituting the new Political Institutions of Egypt. London, 1883. Reports on the State of Et,'ypt and the Progress "f Administrative Reforms. London, 1885. Reports by SirH. D. Wolff on the Ad- ministration of EgjTt. London, 1887. Annual Report by Lord Cromer on the Finances, Administration and Condition of Egypt, and the Progress of Reforms. London, 1898.

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