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, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total area total: 2,505,810 km²
Land: 2.376 million km²
Comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US

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 the 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, gold

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

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


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Population: 30,120,420 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 2.35% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Sudanese

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
0-14 years: 46% (female 6,801,001; male 7,124,892)
15-64 years: 52% (female 7,706,864; male 7,830,980)
65 years and over: 2% (female 280,297; male 376,386) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.35% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 41.29 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.74 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)
Note: the flow of refugees from the civil war in Sudan into neighboring countries continues, often at the rate of tens of thousands annually; Uganda was the main recipient of Sudanese refugees in the past year; repatriation of Eritrean and Ethiopean refugees in Sudan continues

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification
Current issues natural hazards: dust storms
Current issues international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 77.7 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 54.71 years
Male: 53.81 years
Female: 55.65 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6 children born/woman (1995 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 (1983)
Total population: 32%
Male: 44%
Female: 21%

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: Sudan
Local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
Local short form: As-Sudan
Former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Government type: ruling military junta - Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) - 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
Note: on 14 February 1994, the 9 states comprising Sudan were divided into 26 new states; the new state boundary alignments are undetermined

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 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); First Vice President Major General al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH (since 19 October 1993); Second Vice President (Police) Maj. General George KONGOR (since NA February 1994); 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
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president; note - on 30 October 1993, President BASHIR announced a new, predominantly civilian cabinet, consisting of 20 federal ministers, most of whom retained their previous cabinet positions; on 9 February 1995, he abolished three ministries and redivided their portfolios to create several new ministries; these changes increased National Islamic Front presence at the ministerial level and consolidated its control over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; President BASHIR's government is dominated by members of Sudan's National Islamic Front, a fundamentalist political organization formed from the Muslim Brotherhood in 1986; front leader Hasan al-TURABI controls Khartoum's overall domestic and foreign policies

Legislative branch: appointed 300-member Transitional National Assembly; officially assumes all legislative authority for Sudan until the proposed 1995 resumption of national elections

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, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Ahmad SULAYMAN
In the us chancery: 2,210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 338-8,565 through 8,570
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 667-2,406
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Donald K. PETTERSON
From the us embassy: Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 9,829
From the us telephone: 74,700, 74,611 (operator assistance required)
From the us FAX: Telex 22,619 AMEMSD

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. Governmental entities 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. Agriculture 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. After Sudan backtracked on promised reforms in 1992-93, the IMF threatened to expel Sudan from the Fund. To avoid expulsion, Khartoum agreed to make payments on its arrears to the Fund, liberalize exchange rates, and reduce subsidies. These measures have been partially implemented. The government's continued prosecution of the civil war and its growing international isolation led to a further deterioration of the nonagricultural sectors of the economy during 1994. Agriculture, on the other hand, after several disappointing years, enjoyed a bumper fall harvest in 1994; its strong performance produced an overall growth rate in GDP of perhaps 7%.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 7% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $870 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 35% of GDP; 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% (FY92/93 est.), accounts for 11% of GDP

Labor force: 6.5 million
By occupation agriculture: 80%
By occupation industry and commerce: 10%
By occupation government: 6%
Note: labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (FY92/93 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $493 million
Expenditures: $1.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $225 million (1994 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: $419 million (f.o.b., FY93/94)
Commodoties: gum arabic 29%, livestock/meat 24%, cotton 13%, sesame, peanuts
Partners: Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3% (FY87/88)

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., FY93/94)
Commodoties: 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% (FY87/88)

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 - 434.8 (January 1995), 277.8 (1994), 153.8 (1993), 69.4 (1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (1990; note - the commercial rate is 300 Sudanese pounds per US$1


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Electricity
Capacity: 500,000 kW
Production: 1.3 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 42 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: NA telephones; large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained by modern standards
Local: NA
Intercity: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radio communications, troposcatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 stations
International: 1 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 ARABSAT earth station

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $600 million, 7.3% of GDP (FY93/94 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
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 13
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 14
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 33

Heliports

Pipelines: refined products 815 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Merchant marine
Total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 43,024 GRT/122,379 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 3, 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, tensions over this disputed area began to escalate in 1992 and remain high

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs