Sudan is an extremely complex country, with a wide variety of languages and ethnic groups, with the main division being between the Arabic-speaking and Islamic north and the more diverse and non-Muslim south.
Linguistics
Sudan has around 400 different languages and 600 different ethnic groups. This obviously leads to major differences and often friction. Roughly speaking, it can be said that the north is mainly Islamic and Arabic-speaking. The official language in the country is Arabic, but Arabic is not the same everywhere, there are different versions used and just because someone speaks one version does not mean that he/she also understands another version.
Language groups
There are four major language groups in Africa, three of which are spoken in Sudan. First of all, there is Arabic, a Semitic language that is part of the Afro-Asiatic language group. Other languages in this group are Hausa and Bedawiye. The second group is Niger-Kurdufanian, languages from this group are for example Azande and Fulani. Languages from this group are mainly spoken around the Nuba Mountains. The third group is the Nilo-Saharan group, this group of languages is less well-organized, many of the languages from this group have not been further investigated. Many Sudanese speak a language from this last group, but this is often a small group of people. Languages of small groups of people sometimes disappear when they are absorbed into a larger group.
Lingua Franca
There are a number of lingua francas in the country, and many people also speak multiple languages out of necessity. First of all, there is Arabic, the official language. This language can be subdivided into classical Arabic (the Arabic from the Koran), Standard Arabic and various local versions of the language, including Nuba Arabic. In southern Sudan, English was accepted as a lingua franca in the late 1980s. However, in 1990, Arabic was declared the official language for higher education by the government. In the south, Arabic is often seen as the language of cultural dominance of the north. Arabic stands for Islam, English stands for non-Islam. Juba Arabic is often spoken in the south, a pidgin version of the language that is incomprehensible to a northerner.
Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups in Sudan can be divided into Muslims and non-Muslims. The non-Muslim groups consist of groups of Christians and animists.
Muslims
First of all, there are the Arabs, this group makes up about 40% of the total Sudanese population and in the northern provinces of the country they often form the majority. However, this group is far from homogeneous, there are nomadic and sedentarized Arabs and among themselves they are divided into tribes.
The second group are the Nubians, who live in the north of Sudan and south of Egypt. In addition, there are the Beja, a group that originally lived in the hills near the Red Sea. This group has become highly Arabized, has adopted Islam as their religion and many have also changed their names. However, their language, Bedawiye, is related to languages of groups in the south. The Fur are a fourth Muslim group, which has long been sedentarized. The Beri or Zaghawa are nominally Muslims, but many old customs are still honored by this group. A number of Muslim groups such as the Masalit, Daju and the Berti also live in the province of Darfur. These groups are often nominally Muslims. In addition, large groups of West African Muslims live in Sudan, some of whom have been in Sudan for generations, others who came later. Some have settled here on their way back from the Haj, others have come to escape colonialism in their own country. There are groups of Hausa, Fulani and others.
Non-Muslims
Most non-Muslims in Sudan live in the south of the country, including the Nuba in the center of the country and some groups in the border area with Ethiopia and in the hills near the Blue Nile.
First of all, there are the Nilotes, who live in the area of Bahr al-Ghazal. The term refers to people who speak languages of a particular N ilotic sub-branch of the Eastern Sudanese branch of Nilo-Saharan group. They also share physical and cultural traits. The main groups are the Dinka, the Nuer and the Shillok. These groups are themselves divided into various tribes. The Nuba live in the Nuba Hills, who can be divided into three groups with very different cultural and social structures. Furthermore, there are a large number of other groups such as the Azande, Bviri, Ndogo, Bari, Murle and Mandari. This is just a small selection of the enormous diversity of groups, each with its own culture and often language.
Migration
Migration has had a major impact on the Sudanese population. Due to the wars and famines, many people have moved away from their native region, sometimes only temporarily, often permanently. This has had major consequences in terms of languages and ethnic identity. Although people often went to live in a place with others from their own ethnic group, they were still surrounded by people who often spoke a different language and had different traditions and culture.