In 2008, the Justice and Equality Movement engaged in combat in the city with the Sudanese Armed Forces as part of the War in Darfur.

[10] Khartoum is an economic and trade center in North Africa, with rail lines from Port Sudan and El-Obeid.

This is supported by historical accounts which place the Dinka homeland in central Sudan (around present-day Khartoum) as recently as the 13th-17th centuries A.D.[11] One folk etymology is that it is derived from Arabic khurṭūm (خرطوم 'trunk' or 'hose'), probably referring to the narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles.

Grant, who reached Khartoum in 1863 with Captain Speke's expedition, thought the name was most probably from the Arabic qurtum (قرطم 'safflower', i.e., Carthamus tinctorius), which was cultivated extensively in Egypt for its oil to be used as fuel.

Egypt shifted the seat of the colonial government from Wad Madani to Khartoum in 1823, which became a permanent settlement and underwent rapid development in the next decades.

European pressure and influence forced Egypt to close the city's public slave market in 1854, although slaves continued to be sold and trafficked in large numbers, specifically from the Blue Nile region and the Nuba Mountains, as well as down the White Nile (the Dinka and Shilluk territories).

[20] On 13 March 1884, troops loyal to the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad began the siege of Khartoum against the Egyptian garrison led by the British General Charles George Gordon.

Many of the inhabitants were massacred or enslaved and the survivors were deported to the newly established Omdurman, while Khartoum was largely destroyed and abandoned.

[21][22] With the reconquest of Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1898, Khartoum was reinstated as the capital, and was rebuilt according to a street plan in the shape of the Union Jack.

Khartoum Bahri was established as a garrison comprising a dockyard and a railhead to Egypt, while Omdurman, remained the most populous part and largely kept its old shape.

[23][24] During World War II, the Italian Empire attempted to advance into Sudan from Ethiopia, with the end goal of capturing Khartoum.

[27] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Khartoum was the destination of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring nations such as Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Following the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the United States accused bin Laden's al-Qaeda group and, on 20 August, launched cruise missile attacks on the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North.

The camps were watched over by heavily armed security guards, many relief agencies were banned from assisting, and "the nearest food was at a market four miles away, a vast journey in the desert heat."

The intentional displacement was part of a large urban renewal plan backed by the housing minister, Sharaf Bannaga.

[29][30][31] The sudden death of SPLA head and vice-president of Sudan John Garang in late July 2005, was followed by three days of violent riots in the capital.

[34] On 10 May 2008, the Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement attacked the city with the goal of toppling Omar al-Bashir's government.

Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur was a slave trader and the al-Zibar Basha street leads to the military base where the 2019 Khartoum massacre took place.

[40] On 26 October 2021, the city was locked down following a military coup that left at least 7 dead, triggering protests and calls for a general strike.

Khartoum features a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with a dry season occurring during winter, typical of the Saharo-Sahelian zone, which marks the progressive passage between the Sahara Desert's vast arid areas and the Sahel's vast semi-arid areas.

This has changed as major economic developments take place in other parts of the country, like oil exploration in the south, the Giad Industrial Complex in Al Jazirah state and White Nile Sugar Project in Central Sudan, and the Merowe Dam in the North.

The souq is spread over several blocks in the center of Khartoum proper just south of the Great Mosque (Mesjid al-Kabir) and the minibus station.

The Afra Mall has a supermarket, retail outlets, coffee shops, a bowling alley, movie theaters, and a children's playground.

Khartoum has rail lines from Wadi Halfa, Port Sudan on the Red Sea, and El Obeid.

The architecture of Khartoum reflects the city's history since the early 1820s and is marked by both native Sudanese, Turkish, British and modern buildings.

Since independence, the people of Sudan have introduced new infrastructure and technology, which has led to new and innovative building concepts, ideas and construction techniques.

Khartoum's unique history and cultural significance have inspired literary works that explore its past, present, and future.

For example, in "Reading Khartoum", the city is depicted as a space shaped by movement, political instability, and socio-cultural changes, resulting in underlying layers of meanings and ambiguity.