Baggara in the context of "Janjaweed"

The Nuba Mountains (Arabic: جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, are an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. They are not the same as the Nubians who are indigenous to north Sudan. Rather their name is derived from the name of the mountains, “Nuba”. In Antiquity, the area was a part of the Kingdom of Kush. In the Middle Ages, the Nuba mountains had been part of the Nubian kingdom of Alodia. In the 18th century, they became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad. After the British defeated the Mahdi army, Taqali was restored as a client state. Infiltration of the Messiria tribe and Muraheleen of Baggara Arabs has been influential in modern conflicts. Up to 1.5 million people live in the mountains, mostly ethnic Nuba, with a small minority of Baggara.

The Far North Region, also known as the Extreme North Region (from French: Région de l'Extrême-Nord.) (Fulfulde : woilare ), is the northernmost and most populous constituent province of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the North Region to the south, Chad to the east, and Nigeria to the west. The capital is Maroua.

The province is one of Cameroon's most culturally diverse. Over 50 different ethnic groups populate the area, including the Shuwa Arabs, Fulani, and Kapsiki. Most inhabitants speak the Fulani language Fulfulde, Chadian Arabic, and French.

The Abbala people are an Afro-Arab ethnic group of the Sahel located in Sudan and Chad. The Abbala are named after their subsistence practice of camel herding.

The term "Abbala" is mostly used in Sudan to distinguish them from the Baggara, a grouping of Arab ethnicities who herd cattle. Although, the two groupings share a common origin from the Juhaynah tribe of the Arabian peninsula and it is a common way to distinguish Rizeigat who herd camels in Northern Darfur and those who herd cows in Southern Darfur. According to Braukämp (1993) some of the Abbala people experienced a cultural change to Baggara culture after being pushed from the Sahel region into the savanna. This resulted in a switch in livestock to cattle, which are better adapted to the savanna environment.

The Messiria (Arabic: المسيرية), also known as Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arab tribes. Their language is primarily Sudanese Arabic, while Chadian Arabic is also spoken by a small number of them in Darfur. Their population estimate varies, perhaps between 500,000 and 1 million in western Sudan, extending into eastern Chad. They are primarily nomadic cattle herders and their journeys are dependent upon the seasons of the year. The use of the term Baggara carries negative connotations as slave raiders, so they prefer to be called instead Messiria.