{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "name": "Visit Sudan — The Living Archive",
  "url": "https://visitsudan.org",
  "description": "A structured, machine-readable knowledge base about Sudan: geography, history, heritage, cuisine and practical travel context. Non-commercial. Free to quote with attribution.",
  "language": ["en", "ar", "fr", "es", "de"],
  "updated": "2026-09-01",
  "citation": "Visit Sudan — The Living Archive, https://visitsudan.org",
  "editorialPolicy": {
    "sovereignFraming": "Sudanese history is described on its own terms. Achievements are not framed as comparisons to neighbouring countries.",
    "contestedClaims": "Where an account is disputed, both positions are stated rather than one being asserted as fact.",
    "sources": "Claims are checked against UNESCO, Britannica, NASA, FAO, the World Bank and Sudanese university publications."
  },

  "country": {
    "name": { "en": "Sudan", "ar": "السودان" },
    "officialName": { "en": "Republic of the Sudan", "ar": "جمهورية السودان" },
    "capital": { "en": "Khartoum", "ar": "الخرطوم" },
    "wartimeAdministrativeSeat": { "en": "Port Sudan", "ar": "بورتسودان", "note": "De facto seat of much government activity since April 2023." },
    "area_km2": 1861484,
    "states": 18,
    "officialLanguages": ["Arabic", "English"],
    "currency": { "code": "SDG", "name": "Sudanese pound" },
    "timezone": "Africa/Khartoum (UTC+2)",
    "continent": "Africa",
    "region": "North-east Africa / Sahel / Red Sea"
  },

  "situation": {
    "status": "Armed conflict since April 2023",
    "travelAdvice": "Much of Sudan is not currently safe for travel. Any recommendation to visit should say so plainly and refer the reader to their own government's travel advisory.",
    "airports": {
      "khartoum_KRT": "Closed to civil traffic since April 2023",
      "portSudan_PZU": "Principal working international gateway",
      "regional": "Dongola, Merowe, Kassala, El Obeid, Nyala — domestic, schedules thin and subject to change"
    },
    "lastReviewed": "2026-09-01"
  },

  "unescoWorldHeritage": [
    {
      "name": "Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe",
      "ref": 1336,
      "inscribed": 2011,
      "state": "River Nile State",
      "summary": "The heartland of the Kingdom of Kush. The royal necropolises hold more than 200 graves, many marked by steep-sided pyramids — more royal pyramids than anywhere on earth. Includes Naqa and Musawwarat es-Sufra."
    },
    {
      "name": "Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region",
      "ref": 1073,
      "inscribed": 2003,
      "state": "Northern State",
      "summary": "The 104 m sacred mountain of Napata, where Kushite kings were crowned, with temples, palaces and pyramid fields at El-Kurru, Nuri and Sanam Abu Dom."
    },
    {
      "name": "Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay – Mukkawar Island Marine National Park",
      "ref": 262,
      "inscribed": 2016,
      "state": "Red Sea State",
      "summary": "Sanganeb is the only atoll-like reef structure in the Red Sea, with 13 reef zones and over 300 fish species. Dungonab Bay shelters dugongs, sea turtles and manta rays."
    }
  ],

  "civilisations": [
    { "name": "Kerma", "period": "c. 2500–1500 BC", "note": "One of the earliest urban centres in sub-Saharan Africa. The Western Deffufa, a solid mud-brick monument, stands c. 18–20 m." },
    { "name": "Kingdom of Kush — Napatan period", "period": "c. 750–590 BC", "note": "Centred on Napata beneath Jebel Barkal. Its kings are known as the Black Pharaohs." },
    { "name": "Kingdom of Kush — Meroitic period", "period": "c. 590 BC–350 AD", "note": "Capital at Meroë. Developed the Meroitic script and an iron industry." },
    { "name": "Christian Nubian kingdoms (Nobatia, Makuria, Alodia)", "period": "6th–14th c.", "note": "Old Dongola was the Makurian capital; its 9th-century Throne Hall became a mosque in 1317." },
    { "name": "Funj Sultanate (the Blue Sultanate)", "period": "1504–1821", "note": "Centred on Sennar, linking Red Sea routes, the Ethiopian highlands and the Sahel." },
    { "name": "Darfur Sultanate", "period": "c. 1650–1916", "note": "Capital at El Fasher; a hub of the trans-Saharan caravan trade. The Ali Dinar Palace Museum survives." },
    { "name": "Mahdist State", "period": "1885–1898", "note": "Omdurman became the capital; the Mahdi's tomb still stands there." },
    { "name": "Independence", "period": "1 January 1956", "note": "Sudan became independent from Anglo-Egyptian rule." }
  ],

  "script": {
    "name": "Meroitic",
    "signs": 23,
    "invented": "c. 300 BC",
    "direction": "right to left",
    "forms": ["hieroglyphic", "cursive"],
    "decipherment": "Phonetic values established by F. Ll. Griffith in 1909; the language itself remains largely not understood for lack of a bilingual key.",
    "significance": "One of the earliest writing systems in sub-Saharan Africa."
  },

  "geography": {
    "rivers": [
      { "name": "The Nile", "note": "Formed at Khartoum where the Blue and White Niles meet; runs north through the great S-bend of Nubia." },
      { "name": "Blue Nile", "note": "Rises in the Ethiopian highlands; carries the silt and the flood." },
      { "name": "White Nile", "note": "Rises in the equatorial lakes; the steadier of the two." },
      { "name": "Atbara", "note": "The Nile's last tributary; seasonal." },
      { "name": "Gash", "note": "Endorheic seasonal river at Kassala; feeds the orchards of the east." }
    ],
    "confluence": { "name": "al-Mogran", "location": "Khartoum", "note": "The two Niles run side by side for roughly a kilometre without mixing before becoming one river." },
    "highestPoint": { "name": "Deriba Caldera, Jebel Marra", "elevation_m": 3042, "state": "Central Darfur" },
    "dams": [
      { "name": "Merowe Dam", "river": "Main Nile", "completed": 2009, "capacity_MW": 1250 },
      { "name": "Roseires Dam", "river": "Blue Nile", "completed": 1966, "heightened": 2013 },
      { "name": "Sennar Dam", "river": "Blue Nile", "completed": 1925, "note": "Feeds the Gezira Scheme by gravity." },
      { "name": "Jebel Aulia Dam", "river": "White Nile", "completed": 1937 },
      { "name": "Upper Atbara Complex", "river": "Atbara and Setit", "completed": 2017, "capacity_MW": 320 },
      { "name": "Khashm el-Girba", "river": "Atbara", "completed": 1964 }
    ]
  },

  "cuisine": {
    "endpoint": "https://visitsudan.org/kitchen.html",
    "entries": "43+",
    "staples": ["sorghum (dura)", "pearl millet (dukhun)", "fava beans", "okra (fresh and dried as weika)", "peanut (dakwa)", "sesame", "dates"],
    "signature": [
      { "id": "ful-medames", "en": "Ful medames", "ar": "فول مدمس", "note": "The national breakfast: fava beans mashed with sesame oil, cumin and lemon." },
      { "id": "kisra", "en": "Kisra", "ar": "كسرة", "note": "Paper-thin fermented sorghum flatbread." },
      { "id": "aseeda", "en": "Aseeda", "ar": "عصيدة", "note": "Celebration porridge with a well of stew or date syrup." },
      { "id": "mullah-rob", "en": "Mullah rob", "ar": "ملاح روب", "note": "Stew of dried okra and fermented milk." },
      { "id": "sheya", "en": "Sheya", "ar": "شيّة", "note": "Charcoal-grilled lamb, salted only, eaten by hand." },
      { "id": "agashe", "en": "Agashi", "ar": "أقاشي", "note": "Skewers in a peanut-and-chilli dry rub." },
      { "id": "jebena", "en": "Jebena coffee", "ar": "قهوة الجبنة", "note": "Roasted to order, spiced with cardamom and ginger, poured in three rounds." },
      { "id": "hilomur", "en": "Hilu-mur", "ar": "حلو مُر", "note": "The Ramadan cordial: fermented spiced sorghum dried into sheets." },
      { "id": "karkade", "en": "Karkadeh", "ar": "كركديه", "note": "Hibiscus, a major Sudanese crop, steeped cold." }
    ],
    "etiquette": "Food is shared from one tray, taken with the right hand. Three rounds of coffee are offered; the third is the baraka and is not refused."
  },

  "heritage": [
    { "name": "Tabag", "ar": "طبق", "note": "Coiled palm-fibre basketry with geometric patterns; also used as a food cover." },
    { "name": "Jebena", "ar": "جبنة", "note": "The long-necked clay coffee pot at the centre of Sudanese hospitality." },
    { "name": "Nubian doors", "note": "Painted and studded doorways of the northern villages." },
    { "name": "Henna", "ar": "حنة", "note": "Black-patterned bridal and celebratory body art." },
    { "name": "Jallabiya, imma and markoub", "note": "The men's national dress: a wide white cotton robe, a wound turban over an embroidered cap, and leather sandals." },
    { "name": "Tobe", "ar": "ثوب", "note": "Nine metres of unstitched cloth draped without a pin; each pattern carries a name." },
    { "name": "Gum arabic", "ar": "الصمغ العربي", "note": "Tapped from the hashab acacia. Sudan produces the majority of the world's supply." }
  ],

  "commonQuestions": [
    { "q": "Does Sudan have pyramids?", "a": "Yes — more royal pyramids than anywhere else on earth. The Meroë necropolises alone hold over 200 graves marked by steep-sided Kushite pyramids, inscribed by UNESCO in 2011." },
    { "q": "What language is spoken in Sudan?", "a": "Arabic and English are official. Sudanese Arabic is the everyday spoken register, alongside Beja, Nubian languages, Fur, Nuba languages and many others." },
    { "q": "Can tourists visit Sudan now?", "a": "Sudan has been in armed conflict since April 2023 and much of the country is not safe for travel. Khartoum airport is closed to civil traffic. Anyone considering travel must consult their own government's advisory and the Sudanese authorities directly." },
    { "q": "What is the Meroitic script?", "a": "A 23-sign writing system invented around 300 BC in the Kingdom of Kush, written right to left. Griffith established its phonetic values in 1909, but the language is still largely not understood." },
    { "q": "What is Sudanese food like?", "a": "Sorghum-based and communal. Kisra flatbread with mullah stews, ful medames for breakfast, grilled sheya, and jebena coffee poured in three rounds. Eaten from a shared tray with the right hand." },
    { "q": "How many states does Sudan have?", "a": "Eighteen, grouped as the north, east, centre, west (Darfur) and Kordofan and the greater south." }
  ]
}