It is claimed that, like sūdān, fūr means "blacks", and was the name given by the early light-colored Berber sultans of Darfur to the original inhabitants of the country such as the Binga, Banda, etc.

[8][9][10] It is largely a semi-desert plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3,042 meters (9,980 ft) of elevation above sea level, and a topographic prominence of 2512 m,[11] in the center of the region.

The fourth and final feature are the Marrah Mountains and Daju Hills, volcanic plugs created by a massif, that rise up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water.

But the Marrah Mountains offer plentiful water, and by the 12th century the Daju people, succeeding the semi-legendary Tora culture, created the first historical attestable kingdom.

They were centered in the Marrah Mountains and left records of valuable rock engravings, stone architecture and a (orally preserved) list of kings.

Darfur became a great power of the Sahel under the Keira dynasty, expanding its borders as far east as the Atbarah River and attracting immigrants from Bornu and Bagirmi.

During the mid-18th century conflict between rival factions wracked the country, and external war pitted Darfur against Sennar and Wadai.

In 1875, the weakened kingdom was destroyed by the Egyptian ruler set up in Khartoum,[4] largely through the machinations of Sebehr Rahma, a slave-trader, who was competing with the dar over access to ivory in Bahr el Ghazal to the south of Darfur.

The colonial government directed financial and administrative resources to the tribes of central Sudan near Khartoum - while the outlying regions such as Darfur remained mostly forgotten and ignored.

The governor at the time of independence was Ali Abdallah Abu Sinn, who had joined the civil service in 1923 and served in Darfur since 1946.

In August 1958 he was succeeded by Ahmad Makki Abdo, who remained in power despite the coup d'état of that year, until he was finally dismissed in December 1959 and replaced by al-Tijani Sa'd.

Many of these refugees have gone into camps where emergency aid has created conditions that, although extremely basic, are better than in the villages, which offer no protection against the various militias that operate in the region.

Virtually no foreigners visit the region because of the fear of kidnapping, and only some non-governmental organizations continue to provide long-term grass-roots assistance.

[citation needed] In December 2010, representatives of the Liberation and Justice Movement, an umbrella organisation of ten rebel groups, formed in February of that year,[22] started a fresh round of talks with the Sudanese Government in Doha, Qatar.

A new rebel group, the Sudanese Alliance Resistance Forces in Darfur, was formed and the Justice and Equality Movement planned further talks.

[23] The talks ended on December 19 without a new peace agreement, but participants agreed on basic principles, including a regional authority and a referendum on autonomy for Darfur.

The Sudanese government had not yet agreed to attend the forum on that date and instead favoured an internal peace process without the involvement of rebel groups.

[citation needed] A comprehensive peace agreement was signed on 31 August 2020 in Juba, South Sudan, between the Sudanese authorities and rebel factions to end armed hostilities.

This includes the Masalit Massacres perpetuated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), causing some analysts to declare a genocide in Sudan.

[36] Languages of Darfur include Daju, Erenga (or Sungor), Fongoro, Fulbe (or Fulfulde), Fur (thus the name of the region), Masalit, Sinyar, Tama, Midob, and Zaghawa.

[38] Minni Minnawi was the first chair of this authority, holding that office from April 2007 until December 2010, when he was succeeded by Shartai Jaafar Abdel Hakam.