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: Northern Africa, along the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 2,505,810 km²
Land: 2.376 million km²

Land boundaries: total 7,687 km, Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km, Zaire 628 km

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: 200-m depth 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: small reserves of petroleum, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver

Land use
Arable land: 5%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 24%
Forest and woodland: 20%
Other: 51%

Irrigated land: 18,900 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: dust storms

Geography
Note: largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries


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Population: 29,419,798 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 2.36% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Sudanese (singular and plural)

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

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

Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.36% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 41.95 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 12.09 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -6.25 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: contaminated water supplies present human health risks; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 79.5 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 54.27 years
Male: 53.4 years
Female: 55.19 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.09 children born/woman (1994 est.)

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 27%
Male: 43%
Female: 12%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of the Sudan
Conventional short form:
Former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Government type: ruling military junta - Revolutionary Command Council - dissolved on 16 October 1993 and government civilianized

Capital: Khartoum

Administrative divisions: 9 states (wilayat, singular - wilayat or wilayah*; A'ali an Nil, Al Wusta*, Al Istiwa'iyah*, Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah*, Ash Sharqiyah*, Bahr al Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989

Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states; the council is still studying criminal provisions under Islamic law; Islamic law applies to all residents of the six northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: none

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government:President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993; prior to 16 October 1993, BASHIR served concurrently as Chief of State, Chairman of the RCC, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence (since 30 June 1989; Vice President Major General al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH (since 19 October 1993; note - upon its dissolution on 16 October 1993, the RCC's executive and legislative powers were devolved to the President and the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), Sudan's appointed legislative body

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Donald K. PETTERSON
From the us chancery: 2,210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us telephone: 74,700 or 74,611
From the us fax: (202) 667-2,406
From the us embassy: Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO AE 9,829
From the us FAX: Telex 22,619 AMEM SD

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: Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, high inflation, a drop in remittances from abroad, and counterproductive economic policies. The economy is dominated by governmental entities that account for more than 70% of 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 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes agricultural items. Sluggish economic performance over the past decade, attributable largely to declining annual rainfall, has reduced levels of per capita income and consumption. A large foreign debt and huge arrearages continue to cause difficulties. In 1990 the International Monetary Fund took the unusual step of declaring Sudan noncooperative because of its nonpayment of arrearages to the Fund. The government implemented a comprehensive economic reform program in 1992 that included slashing the fiscal deficit, liberalizing foreign exchange regulations, and lifting most price controls, but it had backtracked on most reforms by mid-1993 because of its fear of generating a domestic backlash. The government's failure to pursue economic reform, its continued prosecution of the civil war, and its growing international isolation have led to a further deterioration of the non-agricultural sectors of the economy during 1993. Agriculture, on the other hand, after several disappointing years, enjoyed favorable growing conditions in 1993, and its strong performance produced an overall growth rate in GNP of about 7%.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 7% (FY93 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $750 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 35% of GDP and 80% of labor force; water shortages; two-thirds of land area suitable for raising crops and livestock; major products - cotton, oilseeds, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sheep; marginally self-sufficient in most foods

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

Industrial production growth rate: 6.8% (FY93 est.), accounts for 11% of GDP (FY92)

Labor force: 6.5 million
By occupation agriculture: 80%
By occupation industry and commerce: 10%
By occupation government: 6%
By occupation note: labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.); 52% of population of working age (1985)

Unemployment rate: 30% (FY93 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$374.4 million

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: $350 million (f.o.b., FY93 est.)
Commodities: cotton 52%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts
Partners: Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3% (FY88)

Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f., FY93 est.)
Commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles
Partners: Western Europe 32%, Africa and Asia 15%, US 13%, Eastern Europe 3% (FY88)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $17 billion (June 1993 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: official rate - Sudanese pounds (#Sd) per US$1 - 215 (January 1994), 333.3 (December 1993), 90.1 (March 1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (fixed rate since 1987; note - the commercial rate is 300 (January 1994)


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Electricity
Capacity: 610,000 kW
Production: 905 million kWh
Consumption per capita: 40 kWh (1991)

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: exchange rate conversion - $339 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)

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: 70
Usable: 58
With permanentsurface runways: 9
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 7
With runways 1220-2439 m: 29

Heliports

Pipelines: refined products 815 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Merchant marine: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 89,842 GRT/122,379 DWT, cargo 8, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: administrative boundary with Kenya does not coincide with international boundary; administrative boundary with Egypt does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 km², the dispute over this area escalated in 1993, this area continues to be in dispute

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs