Sudan

Sudan is a country that most people think they know but almost nobody actually does. Mention it and minds jump to conflict headlines, but this is also the land where the Blue and White Nile converge in one of geography's great spectacles, where ancient Nubian kingdoms built more pyramids than Egypt ever did, and where the Sahara gradually yields to savanna in a landscape of staggering scale. At nearly 1.9 million square kilometers, it remains Africa's third-largest country even after South Sudan's separation in 2011.

The history here predates much of what the ancient world considered old. The Kingdom of Kush rivaled Egypt, Meroitic script remains only partially deciphered, and the ruins at Jebel Barkal have been sacred for over 3,000 years. Modern Sudan sits at a cultural crossroads where Arab and African identities blend in ways that are uniquely Sudanese - visible in everything from the coffee ceremonies borrowed from Ethiopian neighbors to the toub fabric that Sudanese women drape with unmistakable elegance. Despite its challenges, Sudanese hospitality is legendary, and visitors routinely describe it as one of the friendliest places they have ever been.