Khartoum Travel Guide, Sudan

Khartoum Travel Guide – Location

The capital of Sudan (largest African state), Khartoum, is situated at the confluence of two legendary rivers, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. Other important African cities around Khartoum are Asmara, in Eritrea and Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. The two rivers form the Nile, the world’s longest river, whose fertile waters once fed the great Egyptian civilization. Sudan’s capital is actually a tripartite metropolis, consisting in Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman. This Khartoum travel guide focuses around some general aspects that might be useful for a tourist, therefore ‘Khartoum’ refers here to the whole metropolis.

Khartoum Travel Guide – Geography and Climate

Situated at 1325 ft above sea level, Khartoum benefits from a tropical climate. The summers are hot, with an average temperature of 38˚C. The hottest month is May, and the rainiest month August. Winter lasts from October till March, and makes the perfect season for visiting, as the temperatures are moderate (24˚C) and precipitations scarce.

Khartoum Travel Guide – Transportation

Khartoum is served by Khartoum International Airport, which also serves as the major location for the Sudan Airways fleet. A new international airport is under construction in Omdurman. There are numerous bridges that connect the three cities that form Sudan’s national capital. The railroad system connects Khartoum with Egypt and other Sudanese cities as Port Sudan and El Obeid. Local public transportation is covered by a network of minibuses (‘hafla’), taxis and rickshaws.

Khartoum Travel Guide – Economy

Much of the Sudan’s economy is based on the exploitation of oil, with Khartoum concentrating an important part of the country’s wealth. In the last decades, Khartoum underwent an accelerated process of modernization and development. Besides traditional sectors as printing, retail, glass manufacturing, textiles and food processing, foreign investors have encouraged some new economic branches, like telecommunications or services.

Khartoum Travel Guide – Travel Tips

There is no unanimously accepted explanation for the origin of the name “Khartoum”: some say it’s derived from the Arabic idiom meaning “the end of an elephant trunk”, others that it comes from some African dialects and it designates the place where two rivers meet. According to the latest estimations, Khartoum had a population of over 2,2 million, while the population of the metropolitan area goes up to 8, 3 million inhabitants. The official religion in Khartoum is Islam, and the official language Arabic. The currency in Sudan is the Dinar, and payment by cash is mostly preferred. As a precaution, most Khartoum travel guides will advise you to drink only bottled water and have vaccinations against malaria, smallpox or cholera. Most tourists have to arrange for a visa with the Sudan diplomatic mission in their country previous to their arrival. The time varies according to seasons: GMT+2 in winter and GMT+3 in summer.