inWorldWar I (1914–18) and
WorldWar II (1939–45).
The U.S. Navy introduced the first
nuclear-powered submarine in 1954. It
was named the USS Nautilus. Nuclear
submarines need only a small amount of
fuel to produce a lot of power. This
means that they can stay underwater for
an almost unlimited length of time.
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Ship •War •WorldWar I
Sucre
Population
(2001 census)
193,873
Sucre is one of the two capitals of
Bolivia, a country in South America.
Sucre is Bolivia’s judicial, or legal,
capital. The country’s Supreme Court
meets there. Bolivia’s lawmakers and
president work in La Paz, the
administrative capital.
Many people in Sucre work in trade,
education, or other service industries.
Factories in the city process oil, cement,
and foods.
Sucre began as a Charcas Indian village.
The Spanish took over the area in the
early 1500s. In 1539 the Spanish
founded the city of La Plata at the site of
the Indian village. The city was also
called Charcas or Chuquisaca.
The people of La Plata started a revolt
against Spanish rule in 1809. In 1825
Bolivia became an independent country.
La Plata became the capital of Bolivia in
1839. The next year it was renamed
Sucre after the Bolivian leader Antonio
Jose de Sucre.
In 1898 different groups based in Sucre
and La Paz fought for power. They
solved their differences by splitting
power between the two cities. La Paz
became Bolivia’s administrative capital.
Sucre remained the judicial capital.
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Bolivia • La Paz
Cafes line a street in Sucre, Bolivia.
198 Sucre BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Sudan
Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It
is divided into northern and southern
regions. Different groups of people live
in the two regions, and this has sometimes
led to fighting. The capital of
Sudan is Khartoum.
Geography
Sudan covers a large area in northeastern
Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the Central
African Republic, Chad, Libya, and
Egypt. In the east Sudan has a coast
along the Red Sea.
Northern Sudan is in the Sahara Desert.
Southern and central Sudan have enormous
swamps and some mountains. The
Nile River flows south to north through
the middle of the country. Its two major
branches, the White Nile and the Blue
Nile, join at the city of Khartoum.
Sudan is a hot country. The north gets
almost no rain, while the south has a
long rainy season.
Plants and Animals
The northern desert has few plants.
Shrubs and grasses grow in central
Sudan. Tropical rain forests exist in the
far south.
Sudan’s wildlife includes lions, leopards,
cheetahs, crocodiles, elephants, antelope,
giraffes, zebras, chimpanzees, rhinoceroses,
and hippopotamuses. These animals
live mainly in the south.
People
The name Sudan comes from Arab
words meaning “land of the blacks.”
However, about half of Sudan’s people
are Arabs. They follow Islam and live
mainly in northern and central Sudan.
Most of Sudan’s black Africans live in
the south. They follow Christianity or
traditional African religions. Arabic and
English are common languages, but
Sudan’s peoples speak more than 100
other languages. Most people live in the
countryside.
Economy
Most of Sudan’s people work as farmers.
The land between the two branches of
the Nile is the country’s main growing
region. Farmers grow sorghum, millet,
sugarcane, peanuts, sesame seeds, cotton,
and other crops. They raise sheep,
goats, cattle, and camels.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Sudan 199
Sudan began selling petroleum (oil) to
other countries in 1999. Its factories
produce sugar, cement, vegetable oil,
shoes, and other goods. Services such as
transportation and communications are
also important to the economy.
History
People have lived on the land that is
now Sudan for tens of thousands of
years. In ancient times the northern
part of Sudan was known as Nubia.
Ancient Egypt sometimes ruled Nubia.
From the 1000s BC to the AD 300s
Nubia was part of the kingdom of Kush
(or Cush).
After Kush lost power, three kingdoms
rose up in Sudan. They converted to
Christianity in the 500s. These kingdoms
reached the height of their power
in the 800s and 900s. They collapsed
between the 1200s and the 1400s, when
Arabs from Egypt moved into northern
Sudan.
Egypt conquered all of Sudan in 1874.
The Egyptians had British governors
rule the territory. Sudan’s Muslims
revolted against the British and took
control of the region in 1885. The British
regained control in 1898. Great Britain
and Egypt then ruled Sudan until
1956. That year Sudan became independent.
Military governments, led by Muslims
of the north, soon came to power. The
non-Muslim peoples of the south fought
against the governments. The civil war
led to famines and forced millions of
people to leave the country. A peace
agreement was signed in 2005.
Meanwhile, in 2003, fighting broke out
between armed Arab groups called militias
and non-Arab Muslims in the region
called Darfur, in western Sudan. Sudan’s
government supported the militias. Tens
of thousands of people were killed, and
hundreds of thousands were forced from
their homes.
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