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

Area
Total: 2,505,810 km²
Land: 2.376 million km²
Comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the U.S.

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, Democratic Republic of the Congo 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
Extremes lowest point: Red Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m

Natural resources:

Land use
Arable land: 5%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 24%
Forests 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


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Population:
Growth rate:

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

Ethnic groups:

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

Religions:

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years:
15-64 years:
65 years and over:

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate: 5.17 migrant(s)/1000 population (1996 est.)

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
International agreements: party to_Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
International agreements note: Largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.3 male(s)/female
All ages:

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 55.12 years (1996 est.); 54.71 years (1995 est.)
Male: 54.2 years (1996 est.); 53.81 years (1995 est.)
Female: 56.09 years (1996 est.); 55.65 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

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
Definition: age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)
Total population: 46.1%
Male: 57.7%
Female: 34.6%

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: Transitional_previously ruling military junta; presidential and National Assembly elections held in March 1996; new constitution to be drafted by the National Assembly

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 following spellings have been reported but not approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (Bahr Aljebal, Blue Nile, Bohayrat, East Equatoria, Gedarif, Gezira, Jungle, Kassala, Khartoum, North, North Bahr Alghazal, North Darfur, North Kordofan, Red Sea, River Nile, Sinnar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, Unity, Upper Nile, Warab, West Bahr Alghazal, West Darfur, West Kordofan, West Equatoria, White Nile)

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and U.K.)

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; new constitution to be drafted following national elections held in March 1996

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: NA years of age; universal, but noncompulsary

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government:President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993) was elected to a five-year term by popular vote; election last held 6-17 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2001; results_President al-BASHIR won 75.7% of the vote and defeated about forty other candidates; First Vice President Major General al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH (since 19 October 1993), Second Vice President (Police) Maj. General George KONGOR AROP (since NA February 1994)
Note: al-BASHIR, as chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (RCC), assumed power on 30 June 1989 and served concurrently as chief of state, chairman of the RCC, prime minister, and minister of defense until 16 October 1993 when he was appointed president by the RCC; 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, which has since been replaced by the National Assembly which was elected in March 1996 Cabinet:Cabinet was appointed by the president; note_on 30 October 1993, President al-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 al-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 dominates much of Khartoum's overall domestic and foreign policies; President al-BASHIR is expected to name a new cabinet following the elections held in March 1996

Legislative branch: Unicameral

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, IFRCS, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation

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 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, measures it has partially implemented. The government's continued prosecution of the civil war and its growing international isolation continued to inhibit growth in the nonagricultural sectors of the economy during 1995. Agricultural production in 1995, while fairly good, was not up to the bumper crop level of 1994.

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: Accounts for 33% of GDP; major products_cotton, oilseeds, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sheep; marginally self-sufficient in most foods

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate 6.8% (FY92/93 est.), accounts for 11% of GDP

Labor force: 8.9 million (1993 est.)
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.)

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: $382 million (1995 est.); $493 million (1994 est.)
Expenditures: $1.06 billion, including capital expenditures of $91 million (1995 est.); $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:
Commodities:
Partners:

Imports: total value:$1.7 billion (c.i.f., FY93/94)
Commodities:
Partners:

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Official rate_Sudanese pounds (£Sd) per US$1_official rate:750.0 (November 1995), 277.8 (1994), 153.8 (1993), 69.4 (1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (1990); market rate:571.02 (August 1995), 289.61 (1994), 159.31 (1993), 97.43 (1992), 6.96 (1991)
Note: the market rate is a unified exchange rate determined by a committee of local bankers, without official intervention, and is quoted uniformly by all commercial banks


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Electricity
Capacity: 500,000 kW
Production: 1.3 billion kWh
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: 77,215 telephones (1983 est.); 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: 56
2438 to 3047 m: 8
15-24 to 2437 m: 13
Under 914 m: 7
914 to 1523 m: 25 (1995 est.)

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/57,985 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2 (1995 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs