Travel Guide Atbara عطبرة

Atbara is located at the very junction of the eponymous tributary and the Nile. An industrial city at the crossing of the routes connecting Khartoum to Wadi Halfa, Port Sudan in Dongola, it was the Sudanese capital of the railways and, above all, its powerful union, the mainstay of the Communist Party of Sudan, which was one of the most powerful in the Arab world in its time. Today, its dynamism depends heavily on the industry, especially the cement plant.In 1898, in his campaign against the Mahdiste state, Lord Kitchener cibla Atbara's lock to control the road leading to Khartoum and partially cut off the Khalifa (the Mahdi successor) by sea. Kitchener délogea several thousands of armed Mahdi supporters, and this victory was decisive for taking the capital.On the threshold of independence, the politicisation of railway workers allowed the creation of powerful union groups, which saw their wings cut under Nimeiry in the 1980 s. Since then, the city has been crooked on its status as a crossroads. But even if the rail has become a secondary activity, it doubled the city into two different parts, styles and atmospheres. The west is thus a memory of the English occupier.There is little to see in Atbara. But it is a large city of passage in a desert region. A step to replenish or rest.