Dinka scholars argue that the name derives from the Dinka words khar-tuom (Dinka-Bor dialect) or khier-tuom (as is the pronunciation in various Dinka Dialects), translating to "place where rivers meet". One theory argues that it is derived from Arabic khurṭūm ( خرطوم, "trunk" or "hose"), probably referring to the narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles. The origin of the word Khartoum is uncertain. Several national and cultural institutions are in Khartoum and its metropolitan area, including the National Museum of Sudan, the Khalifa House Museum, the University of Khartoum, and the Sudan University of Science and Technology. It is served by Khartoum International Airport, and Khartoum New International Airport is under construction. Khartoum is an economic and trade centre in Northern Africa, with rail lines from Port Sudan and El-Obeid. The Khartoum massacre occurred in 2019 during the Sudanese Revolution. In the 21st century, the Justice and Equality Movement engaged in combat there in 2008 with Sudanese government forces as part of the War in Darfur. In modern times, it has been a site of political unrest, as when three hostages were killed during the Attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum in 1973. That year the city was designated as the capital of an independent Sudan. In 1898 it was reoccupied by British forces, and was the seat of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan government until 1956. The British attempted to evacuate Anglo-Egyptian garrisons from Sudan but the Siege of Khartoum in 1884 resulted in the capture of the city by Mahdist forces and a massacre of the defending Anglo-Egyptian garrison. While the United Kingdom exerted power over Egypt, it left administration of the Sudan to it until Mahdist forces took over Khartoum.
Khartoum was founded in 1821 as part of Ottoman Egypt, north of the ancient city of Soba. From there, the Nile continues north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.ĭivided by these two parts of the Nile, Khartoum is a tripartite metropolis with an estimated population of over five million people, consisting of Khartoum proper, and linked by bridges to Khartoum North ( الخرطوم بحري al-Kharṭūm Baḥrī) and Omdurman ( أم درمان Umm Durmān) to the west. The place where the two Niles meet is known as al-Mogran or al-Muqran ( المقرن English: "The Confluence"). It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. Khartoum or Khartum ( / k ɑːr ˈ t uː m/ kar- TOOM Arabic: الخرطوم, romanized: Al-Khurṭūm) is the capital of Sudan.
Khartoumese, Khartoumian (the latter more properly designates a Mesolithic archaeological stratum)