Fur people (Nilo-Saharan tribe)

The Fur are an ethnic group from western Sudan, principally inhabiting the region of Darfur where they are the largest tribe.

They are a Western Sudanese people who practice sedentary herding and agriculture, mainly the cultivation of millet.

Their society is a traditional one governed by village elders.

They speak Fur, a Nilo-Saharan language, and are Muslims, having adopted the religion following the region's conquest by the Kanem-Bornu Empire during the Middle Ages.

Some of them have come to speak Arabic in recent years.The traditional heartland of the Fur is the mountainous region around Jebel Sî and Jebel Marra Wadi Salih and Zaligi; today, however, most of them live in the lower country west and southwest of that area, between 11-14 N and 23-26 E. Some Fur live across the border in Chad, many of them refugees.he Furs' lifestyle has led to conflict with the nomadic Baggara, cattle-herders of the region, concerning access to water and grazing land, particularly in Darfur's central Jebel Marra mountains where the best agricultural land is to be found.

This has been the source of ethnic tensions for many years, culminating in the Darfur conflict which began in 2003.