Editing Sudan (section)

== Etymology ==
{{redirect|North Sudan|the Kingdom of North Sudan|Attempts to claim Bir Tawil as a sovereign state#Jeremiah Heaton}}
The country's name ''Sudan'' is a name given historically to the large [[Sahel]] region of West Africa to the immediate west of modern-day Sudan. Historically, Sudan referred to both the [[Sudan (region)|geographical region]], stretching from [[Senegal]] on the [[Atlantic]] Coast to Northeast Africa and the modern Sudan.

The name derives from the Arabic ''{{transliteration|ar|bilād as-sūdān}}'' ({{lang|ar|بلاد السودان}}), or "The Land of the [[Black people|Blacks]]".<ref>{{citation |author=International Association for the History of Religions |title=Numen |publisher=EJ Brill |place=Leiden |year=1959 |page=131 |quote=West Africa may be taken as the country stretching from Senegal in the West to the Cameroons in the East; sometimes it has been called the central and western Sudan, the ''Bilad as-Sūdan'', 'Land of the Blacks', of the Arabs}}</ref> The name is one of various [[toponym]]s sharing similar [[Placename etymology|etymologies]], in reference to the very dark skin of the indigenous people. Prior to this, Sudan was known as ''Nubia'' and ''Ta Nehesi'' or ''Ta Seti'' by [[Ancient Egypt]]ians named for the Nubian and [[Medjay]] archers or bowmen.

Since 2011, Sudan is also sometimes referred to as '''North Sudan''' to distinguish it from [[South Sudan]].<ref name="North Sudanese Culture" />