Map of Sudan | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Military dictatorships promulgating an Islamic government have mostly run the country since independence from the UK in 1956. Over the past two decades a civil war pitting black Christians and animists in the south against the Arab-Muslims of the north has cost at least 1.5 million lives in war and famine-related deaths as well as the displacement of millions of others.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)

Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west

Elevation

Natural resources: modest reserves of crude oil, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, crude oil

Land use: 5% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 24% meadows and pastures; 20% forest and woodland; 51% other; includes 1% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: largest country in Africa


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Population: 24,476,290 (July 1989), growth rate 2.7% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Sudanese (sing. and pl.; adjective - Sudanese

Ethnic groups: 52% black, 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 2% foreigners, 1% other

Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process

Religions: 70% Sunni Muslim in north, 20% indigenous beliefs, 5% Christian (mostly in south)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 44 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 14 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: - 3 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 98 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 55 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 31% (1986)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of the Sudan

Government type: republic

Capital: Khartoum

Administrative divisions: 9 regions (aqalim, singular - iqlim; Aali an Nil, Al Awsat, Al Istiwai, Al Khartum, Ash Shamali, Ash Sharqi, Bahr al Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK; formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution 10 October 1985

Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; in September 1983 President Nimeiri declared the penal code would conform to Islamic law; however, alternatives to these laws are under review by the Constituent Assembly; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal adult

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government Revolutionary Command Council Chairman and Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 30 June 1989; Deputy Chairman of the Command Council and Deputy Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Zubayr MUHAMMAD (since 9 July 1989)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, APC, Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB - Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Hasan Al-Amin BASHIR; Chancery at 2,210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 338-8,565 through 8,570; there is a Sudanese Consulate General in New York; US - Ambassador G. Norman ANDERSON; Embassy at Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum (mailing address is P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO New York 9,668; telephone 74,700 or 75,680, 74,611

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The economy is dominated by governmental entities that contribute more than 70% to new investment. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and trading, with most private industrial investment predating 1980. The economy's base is agriculture, which employs nearly 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes agricultural items. A high foreign debt and arrearages of about $13 billion continue to cause difficulties. Since 1979 the International Monetary Fund has provided assistance and has forced Sudan to make economic reforms aimed at improving the performance of the economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: cotton, sorghum, millet, wheat, sesame, peanuts, beans, barley, gum arabic; not self-sufficient in food production

Industries: cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate: 3.6% (FY88)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: NA

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $867 million; expenditures $1.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $331 million (FY88 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $502 million (f.o.b., FY88 est.)
Commodities: cotton 44%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts
Partners: Western Europe 36%, Saudi Arabia 20%, Eastern Europe 10%, Japan 5%, US 5%

Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY88 est.)
Commodities: petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals
Partners: Western Europe 38%, US 14%, Africa and Asia 12%, Eastern Europe 3%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $8.6 billion (December 1988 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: official rate - Sudanese pounds (LSd) per US$1 - 4.5005 (fixed rate since 1987), 2.8121 (1987), 2.5000 (1986), 2.2883 (1985; commercial exchange rate - set daily, 12.1 (February 1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 606,000 kW capacity; 1,259 million kWh produced, 50 kWh per capita (1988)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $134.4 million, 5.5% of central government budget (FY86)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 79 total, 69 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 31 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: refined products, 815 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Merchant marine: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 91,107 GRT/122,222 DWT; includes 8 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Kenya; international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Egypt

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs