AN exhibition celebrating 50 years of the Sudan Archive -the largest collection of its kind outside the African country -has opened at a university.

Memories of Life in the Sudan was launched at Durham University's Palace Green Library by Sir Donald Hawley, formerly of the Sudan Political Service, and was attended by Sudanese ambassador Omer Siddig.

The archive is regarded as one of the most important references for the country.

Only recently, international delegates consulted the archive to solve a border dispute while hammering out a peace deal for the Darfur region.

Jane Hogan, who created the exhibition, said: "The British had responsibility for altering the borders at one point, so we had representatives of the US State Department, the Foreign Office and Sudanese Embassy visit the archive to consult the original maps to research the change.

"They all agreed the best references were here."

The archive features 838 boxes of material, arranged in more than 330 collections, in addition to official and personal papers.

The archive also holds more than 50,000 photographs, 130 cine-films, more than 1,000 maps, sound recordings, artefacts and a large amount of associated printed material.

It was established in 1957, the year after Sudanese independence. Thanks to the efforts of two Durham academics and a British civil servant, the material was assembled and taken to Durham.

In 2005, it was selected by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council as being of international importance.

Mr Siddig said: "I am really impressed by the collection. It is a really important archive for Sudan and on behalf of my Government, I thank everyone who contributed toward the collection.

"Durham University has become a destination for our post-graduates studies for those who want to make a real contribution to the history of the Sudan."

The exhibition will run until December 17