Hundreds of thousands of people have had to leave their homes because of war or drought, and many are living in camps around Khartoum and other big towns.
In addition to common boundaries, Sudan is bound by complex racial and ethnic links to the countries of the region. Throughout the centuries, groups of people and whole tribes crossed freely into the territory of Sudan, where they intermingled and culturally blended with the native population. In this respect Islam played a pivotal role in consolidating tribal unions and kingdoms, eventually creating the social Sudanese nation in the early sixteenth century, More than half of total population Muslim, most living in north where Muslims constitute 75 percent or more of population. Relatively few Christians, most living in south. Most people in south and substantial minority in north adherents of various indigenous religions. Sudanese extended families include uncles and cousins going back several generations. They determine a great deal about one's life, work and marriage opportunities. .
Traditionally the focus for Sudanese people has been the local village or nomadic community. These relatively small communities are made up of extended families based on lineage of male relatives and ancestors. The members of a lineage act in the group's interest, safeguarding territory or forming important ties with other families by marriage. Usually a family leader is a respected elder. For people in the north who are herders, family status still depends on the size of the herd. In settled villages, certain families hold the rights to own land. In the past, colonial governments sometimes gave powerful positions to certain families. These family groups have gradually become part of the modern political system, but traditional ideas about power and status endure. Most Sudanese families hold strong traditional values in a rapidly changing world. Whether in rural or urban society, the woman's world has been domestic and the man's world, public.
