3.1. Geographic, Historical, and Demographic Context

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           The demographic situation in Sudan is complex. A classic simplification asserts that the majority of Northern Sudanese are Muslims, while the Southern Sudanese are animists or Christians. Some scholars accordingly argue that the northerners and southerners are two distinct peoples with differing value systems: the Arab in the north and the African Negroid in the South. They claim that Sudan consists of two distinct ethnic groups divided by religion, region and history. [1] However, the differences between the two groups are disputed. One scholar states that there are no “ancient common language, no sharp ethnic frontier distinguishing Southerners from their neighbors, no clear geographical boundaries demarcating its area, and, until recently, no wide sense of a shared culture of history uniting its people.” [2] Those views are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Few deny that until the mid 19 ^th century, the “peoples of the South had remained almost completely isolated from their northern, Muslim, Arabic-speaking neighbours.” [3] Therefore, even if there are different views on ethnic and geographic boundaries, there is still consensus on the existence of a distinct historical and political development of the northern and southern peoples. Nevertheless, it is more important to consider that neither the North nor the South consist of homogeneous groups. Sudan as a whole consists of 597 tribes and subgroups speaking more than 400 languages and dialects and they practice a variety of religious traditions. [4]