Kordofan is about I50 miles square, many of the hills being masses of huge granite rocks containing many caves and hiding places utilized by the Nubas in time of war. West of Dar Nuba, the plain extends to beyond the Darfur frontier and is covered with bush except where cleared for cultivation. The bush gradually changes to forest towards the south.

The drainage system of southern Kordofan is exceedingly simple. The Khor Abu Habl rises in the hills west of Dilling and flows N. E. to Sungikai, where it turns east, finally losing itself in the sandhills near Gedid. It is joined by many affluents from the south and there are good wells along its course. The climatic variations are considerable in Kordofan. The rains begin earlier, about March 15, in the south and end later in the north. The climate at El Obeid is pleasant from November to March, when the heat becomes oppressive, until the wind, turning to the south, about the end of April, brings the first rains. The wet season lasts till about the middle of October, when the wind goes around to the north. At El Obeid the rainfall seldom exceeds 25 inches. In the south, the rains are much heavier and last longer. Malaria is the chief cause of sickness, but the war on the mosquito is improving matters at the Government posts.

Arabs and Nubas form the population, the latter being confined to the hills of southern Kordofan. The Arabs are divided into camel-owners, sedentary tribes and Baggara or cattle-owners. The camel-owners live in the northern and drier part of Kordofan and also own many sheep, goats and a few horses. Most of them live in tents, do not till the soil and subsist on camels' milk and the grain they buy from settled tribes. The nomad Arabs always regard a tiller of the soil as inferior to them.

The sedentary tribes live between la,t. I4? and 12? N. The Gawama tribe owns all the best gum forests and is the richest of these tribes. The sedentary tribes all live in villages which seldom contain more than sixty families. The only large towns are El Obeid, capital of the province (pop., I2,000), and Nahud, with Io,ooo inhabitants, between El Obeid and Dar Fur. The chief trade of the capital is in grain, cattle, cotton cloth and gums. The trade of Nahud is mostly with Darfur, the town sending cottons and trade goods west in exchange for cattle and ivory.

Practically all the Arabs of southern Kordofan belong to Baggara or cattle owning tribes. They have a bad name on account of their cruelties under the Khalifa, but they are the most enterprising 523