Dongola دنقلا | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Dongola market | |
 Flag | |
  Dongola Location in Sudan | |
| Coordinates:19°10′11.37″N30°28′29.62″E / 19.1698250°N 30.4748944°E /19.1698250; 30.4748944 | |
| Country |  Sudan |
| State | Northern |
| Population (2008) | |
• Total | 56,167[1] |
| Demonym | Dongolawis |
Dongola (Arabic:دنقلا,romanized: Dunqulā), also known asUrdu orNew Dongola, is the capital ofNorthern State inSudan, on the banks of theNile. It should not be confused withOld Dongola, a now deserted medieval city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank.[2]
The word Dongola comes from theNubian word "Doñqal" which means red brick,[3] as most buildings were made of bricks, thus provoking one of ancient Nubia's biggest industries.[citation needed] A more modern use of the word is to describe a strong and hard bulwark,[clarification needed] that being so Dongola is often called "the Resident of a large Nile castle".
In the medieval period the region was controlled by the Christian kingdom ofMakuria, which until the mid-14th century had its capital atOld Dongola further south. Subsequently Old Dongola became the capital of a smaller kingdom which was integrated into the IslamicFunj Sultanate in the 16th century, which ruled the region until the late 18th century.[4] By the 1820s the town was virtually abandoned.[5]
In 1812 theMamluks arrived in the Dongola region after they were forced out from Egypt byMuhammad Ali Pasha, establishing a small state. As their capital they chose the small town of Maragha. Growing significantly, it came to be known as Dongola Urdu, New Dongola.[6] In 1820 Muhammad Ali Pasha invaded Sudan and the Mamluks, numbering only 300 men, abandoned the town and fled to the south.[7] The Egyptians made Dongola a provincial capital, which it remained until the outbreak of theMahdist revolt in the 1880s.[8]
TheNile Expedition of 1884–1885 to relieve Gordon atKhartoum passed through the area. Regiments were challenged to race up the river by boat, and this gave rise to the Englishregatta competition ofdongola racing.
Dongola was the scene of a victory by GeneralHerbert Kitchener over the indigenousMahdist Muslim tribes in 1896 who later turned it into aBritish-Egyptian army base with the objective of collecting and storing weapons, gear and resources. Dongola was a considered an all time base for sending campaign reports to Britain, and the first English press release was issued in the name of Dongola Star, with news of the British-Egyptian army in Sudan.[9] Kitchener's forces were known for their mercilessness, killing over 15,000 Mahdist troops in theBattle of Omdurman in 1898, and later on proceeded to kill the wounded, raising the overall death toll to over 50,000.[10]
Dongola Road and Dongola Avenue in theBishopston area ofBristol were named after this event; as was Dongola Road inTottenham,North London which runs next to Kitchener Road. There is also a Dongola Road in Jersey (Channel Islands). There is a Dongola Road, in Plaistow, East London. There is also a Dongola Road in Ayr,[11] Scotland. In theUnited States,Dongola, Illinois was established in the 1850s, and named for Dongola.[12] There is also a Dongola Lane inShakopee, Minnesota, and a Dongola Hwy. in Conway, South Carolina.
Dongolawis originate from early indigenousNubianSub Saharan African inhabitants[13] with many taking pride in their mostly non-mixed ancestry; although always faced with criticism this helped preserve theNilo Saharan DongolawiNubian language (sometimes pejoratively referred to as Rotana); however, cultural preferences are slowly changing.
The trans-African automobile route — theCairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Dongola.
Dongola has ahot desert climate (Köppen climate classificationBWh) as it is located in theSahara Desert, one of the hottest, sunniest and driest regions in the world. The temperature is warm or hot year-round, with January, the coolest month, having a mean of 17.6 °C (63.7 °F) and an average low of 8.5 °C (47.3 °F). June has the highest average high of 43.4 °C (110.1 °F), while August has the highest average low at 25.2 °C (77.4 °F). On 22 June 2010, Dongola recorded a temperature of 49.7 °C (121.5 °F), which is the highest temperature that has been recorded in Sudan.[14] The lowest recorded temperature was −2.7 °C (27.1 °F) in January.[year needed]
Dongola receives only 12.3 millimetres (0.48 in) of precipitation annually because of its arid location. September is the wettest month, receiving 7.7 millimetres (0.30 in) of rain on average. Rainfall is sporadic but more likely to occur in the summer. Six months receive no precipitation at all. Humidity is low year-round, but it is higher in winter. Dongola receives 3813.8 hours of sunshine annually, which is 87% of all possible sunshine. June has the most sunshine and September has the least.
| Climate data for Dongola (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1961–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 39.4 (102.9) | 42.4 (108.3) | 46.4 (115.5) | 47.2 (117.0) | 48.8 (119.8) | 49.7 (121.5) | 49.0 (120.2) | 49.4 (120.9) | 48.0 (118.4) | 45.0 (113.0) | 41.5 (106.7) | 37.6 (99.7) | 49.6 (121.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.0 (80.6) | 29.8 (85.6) | 34.1 (93.4) | 38.6 (101.5) | 42.4 (108.3) | 43.6 (110.5) | 43.3 (109.9) | 43.2 (109.8) | 42.4 (108.3) | 39.4 (102.9) | 32.6 (90.7) | 28.1 (82.6) | 37.0 (98.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 18.4 (65.1) | 20.7 (69.3) | 24.8 (76.6) | 29.4 (84.9) | 33.5 (92.3) | 34.9 (94.8) | 35.2 (95.4) | 35.7 (96.3) | 34.6 (94.3) | 31.4 (88.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 19.7 (67.5) | 28.6 (83.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 9.9 (49.8) | 11.7 (53.1) | 15.4 (59.7) | 20.1 (68.2) | 24.6 (76.3) | 26.1 (79.0) | 27.2 (81.0) | 28.3 (82.9) | 26.8 (80.2) | 23.4 (74.1) | 16.2 (61.2) | 11.4 (52.5) | 20.1 (68.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −2.7 (27.1) | 1.0 (33.8) | 4.3 (39.7) | 8.4 (47.1) | 12.6 (54.7) | 17.3 (63.1) | 19.3 (66.7) | 18.0 (64.4) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.4 (52.5) | 6.0 (42.8) | 2.1 (35.8) | −2.7 (27.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.00) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.3 (0.01) | 0.0 (0.0) | 4.9 (0.19) | 4.1 (0.16) | 1.4 (0.06) | 0.4 (0.02) | 0.3 (0.01) | 0.0 (0.0) | 11.5 (0.45) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 32 | 26 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 28 | 33 | 22 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 310.0 | 285.6 | 319.3 | 318.0 | 325.5 | 330.0 | 334.8 | 288.3 | 273.0 | 310.0 | 312.0 | 316.2 | 3,722.7 |
| Source:NOAA[15][16] | |||||||||||||
19°10′11.37″N30°28′29.62″E / 19.1698250°N 30.4748944°E /19.1698250; 30.4748944
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