Khartoum is the African capital that lies where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet. The two rivers join at Al-Mogran, in central Khartoum, forming the Nile proper as it flows north toward Egypt and the Mediterranean.
The city’s name comes from an Arabic word often translated as “elephant’s trunk,” possibly describing the shape of the land between the rivers. Khartoum was founded in 1821 by Ismail Kamil Pasha, an Ottoman-Egyptian commander, and became an important military and trading centre. It is the capital of Sudan and the country’s main political hub.
A common mix-up is Cairo, which is also on the Nile but much farther downstream. Juba, Sudan’s neighbour to the south, stands on the White Nile but not at the Blue Nile’s confluence. Omdurman and Khartoum North sit across the river system from Khartoum and are part of the greater metropolitan area, but they are separate cities.