A Long Walk to Water

The conflict described in the novel is the Second Sudanese Civil War. This conflict began in 1983 and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, making it one of the longest civil wars in modern history, though it was in many ways a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War, which ran from 1955 to 1973. Like other internal conflicts in Sudan, the Second Sudanese Civil War was largely a conflict between the central government—based in the North—and the peoples of the South. Sharp cultural and political divisions exist between Northern and Southern Sudan, and tensions between these regions date back to British colonial rule. These tensions were exacerbated in the postcolonial era as the Arabic-speaking, Muslim government of the North has sought to impose its culture on the tribal peoples of the South. A further source of conflict is the presence of oil fields along the North-South border. The First Sudanese Civil War ended with the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1973, which granted limited autonomy to Southern Sudan. The peace lasted 10 years until President Gaafar Nimeiry attempted to take control of the oil fields, ending Southern autonomy in the process. This act of aggression was motivated by a combination of economic and cultural factors—the Northern government wanted the economic power that would come with control of the oil fields; at the same time, Islamic fundamentalists in Nimeiry’s government resented the cultural autonomy of the non-Muslim peoples in the South and wished to impose Islamic law throughout the country.