Sudan - Introduction 2022
top of pageBackground:
Long referred to as Nubia, modern-day Sudan was the site of the Kingdom of Kerma (ca. 2,500-1500 B.C.) until it was absorbed into the New Kingdom of Egypt. By the 11th century B.C., the Kingdom of Kush gained independence from Egypt; it lasted in various forms until the middle of the 4th century A.D. After the fall of Kush, the Nubians formed three Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. The latter two endured until around 1500. Between the 14th and 15th centuries much of Sudan was settled by Arab nomads, and between the 16th-19th centuries it underwent extensive Islamization. Following Egyptian occupation early in the 19th century, the British established an Anglo-Egyptian Sudan - nominally a condominium, but in effect a British colony.
Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since Sudan gained independence from Anglo-Egyptian co-rule in 1956. The 30-year reign of President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR, following months of nationwide protests, ended with the military forcing him out in April 2019. In July 2019, the country’s Transitional Military Council signed an agreement with the Forces for Freedom and Change (an umbrella group of civilian actors) to form a transitional government under a Constitutional Declaration. Economist and former international civil servant Abdalla HAMDOUK al-Kinani was selected to serve as prime minister of a civilian-led transitional government, which was to have guided the country to credible democratic elections in late 2022. In October 2021, the Sudanese military organized a takeover that ousted Prime Minister HAMDOUK and his government and replaced civilian members of the Sovereign Council (Sudan’s collective Head of State) with individuals selected by the military. HAMDOUK was briefly reinstated in November 2021 but resigned in January 2022.
Climate: hot and dry; arid desert; rainy season varies by region (April to November)
Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north
Natural resources: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold; hydropower
Major riversBy length in km: Nile (shared with Rwanda [s], Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, and Egypt [m]) - 6,650 km; Blue Nile river mouth (shared with Ethiopia [s]) - 1,600 km
Major watersheds area km²: Atlantic Ocean drainage:
(Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 km²)
Internal
(endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 km²)
GeographyNote: the Nile is Sudan's primary water source; its major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, meet at Khartoum to form the River Nile which flows northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea
top of pagePopulationDistribution: with the exception of a ribbon of settlement that corresponds to the banks of the Nile, northern Sudan, which extends into the dry Sahara, is sparsely populated; more abundant vegetation and broader access to water increases population distribution in the south extending habitable range along nearly the entire border with South Sudan; sizeable areas of population are found around Khartoum, southeast between the Blue and White Nile Rivers, and througout South Darfur : 47,958,856 (2022 est.)
Growth rate: 2.55% (2022 est.)
Below poverty line: 46.5% (2009 est.)
Ethnic groups: Sudanese Arab (approximately 70%), Fur, Beja, Nuba, Ingessana, Uduk, Fallata, Masalit, Dajo, Gimir, Tunjur, Berti; there are over 500 ethnic groups
Languages: Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur
Major language samples:
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The Gheos World Guide, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)
Religions: Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority
Age structure0-14 years: 42.01% (male 9,726,937/female 9,414,988)
15-24 years: 20.94% (male 4,852,903/female 4,687,664)
25-54 years: 29.89% (male 6,633,567/female 6,986,241)
55-64 years: 4.13% (male 956,633/female 923,688)
65 years and over: 3.03% (male 729,214/female 649,721) (2020 est.)
Birth rate: 33.47 births/1000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate: 6.3 deaths/1000 population (2022 est.)
Population distribution: with the exception of a ribbon of settlement that corresponds to the banks of the Nile, northern Sudan, which extends into the dry Sahara, is sparsely populated; more abundant vegetation and broader access to water increases population distribution in the south extending habitable range along nearly the entire border with South Sudan; sizeable areas of population are found around Khartoum, southeast between the Blue and White Nile Rivers, and througout South Darfur
EnvironmentCurrent issues: water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water scarcity and periodic drought; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; deforestation; loss of biodiversity
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
top of pageCapitalName: KhartoumGeographic coordinates: 15 36 N, 32 32 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: several explanations of the name exist; two of the more plausible are that it is derived from Arabic "al-jartum" meaning "elephant's trunk" or "hose," and likely referring to the narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles; alternatively, the name could derive from the Dinka words "khar-tuom," indicating a "place where rivers meet"
Administrative divisions: 18 states (wilayat, singular - wilayah); Blue Nile, Central Darfur, East Darfur, Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala, Khartoum, North Darfur, North Kordofan, Northern, Red Sea, River Nile, Sennar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, West Darfur, West Kordofan, White Nile
Note: the peace Agreement signed in October 2020 included a provision to establish a system of governance that will likely restructure the country's current 18 provinces/states into regions
ConstitutionHistory: previous 1973, 1998, 2005 (interim constitution, which was suspended in April 2019); latest initial draft completed by Transitional Military Council in May 2019; revised draft known as the "Draft Constitutional Charter for the 2019 Transitional Period," or “2019 Constitutional Declaration” was signed by the Council and opposition coalition on 4 August 2019
Amendments: amended 2020 to incorporate the Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan; the military suspended several provisions of the Constitutional Declaration in October 2021
Legal system: mixed legal system of Islamic law and English common law; note - in mid-July 2020, Sudan amended 15 provisions of its 1991 penal code
Executive branchChief of state: Sovereign Council Chair and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces General Abd-al-Fatah al-BURHAN Abd-al-Rahman; note - the 2019 Constitutional Declaration established a collective chief of state of the "Sovereign Council," which was chaired by al-BURHAN; on 25 October 2021, al-BURHAN dissolved the Sovereign Council but reinstated it on 11 November 2021, replacing its civilian members (previously selected by the umbrella civilian coalition the Forces for Freedom and Change) with civilians of the military’s choosing; the Sovereign Council currently consists of 5 military-appointed civilians, 5 generals, and 3 representatives selected by former armed opposition groups
Head of government: Sovereign Council Chair and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces General Abd-al-Fatah al-BURHAN Abd-al-Rahman; Acting Prime Minister Osman HUSSEIN (since 19 January 2022); note - former Prime Minister Abdallah HAMDOUK resigned on 2 January 2022; HAMDOUK served as prime minister from August 2019 to October 2019 before he was kidnapped; he was later freed and reinstated as prime minister on 21 November 2021
Cabinet: most members of the Council of Ministers were forced from office in October 2021 by the military and subsequently resigned in November 2021; the military allowed a handful of ministers appointed by former armed opposition groups to retain their posts; at present, most of the members of the Council are senior civil servants serving in an acting minister capacity appointed either by Prime Minister HAMDOUK prior to his resignation or by the military
Elections and appointments: the 2019 Constitutional Declaration originally called for elections to be held in late 2022 at the end of the transitional period; that date was pushed back to late 2023 by the Juba Peace Agreement; the methodology for future elections has not yet been defined; according to the 2019 Constitutional Declaration, civilian members of the Sovereign Council and the prime minister were to have been nominated by an umbrella coalition of civilian actors known as the Forces for Freedom and Change; this methodology was followed in selecting HAMDOUK as prime minister in August 2019; the military purports to have suspended this provision of the 2019 Constitutional Declaration in October 2021; Prime Minister HAMDOUK’s restoration to office in November 2021 was the result of an agreement signed between him and Sovereign Council Chair BURHAN; military members of the Sovereign Council are selected by the leadership of the security forces; representatives of former armed groups to the Sovereign Council are selected by the signatories of the Juba Peace Agreement
Election results: NA
Legislative branchDescription: according to the August 2019 Constitutional Declaration, which established Sudan's transitional government, the Transitional Legislative Council (TLC) was to have served as the national legislature during the transitional period until elections could be held; as of March 2022, the TLC had not been established
Elections: Council of State - last held 1 June 2015; subsequently dissolved in April 2019
National Assembly - last held on 13-15 April 2015; subsequently dissolved in April 2019
note - according to the 2019 Constitutional Declaration, elections for a new legislature are to be held in late 2023
Election results: Council of State - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; former composition - men 35, women 19, percent of women 35.2%
National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; former seats by party - NCP 323, DUP 25, Democratic Unionist Party 15, other 44, independent 19; former composition - men 296 women 130, percent of women 30.5%; note - former
total National Legislature percent of women 31%
Judicial branchHighest courts: National Supreme Court (consists of 70 judges organized into panels of 3 judges and includes 4 circuits that operate outside the capital); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 justices including the court president); note - the Constitutional Court resides outside the national judiciary and has not been appointed since the signature of the 2019 Constitutional Declaration
Judge selection and term of office: National Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges selected by the Supreme Judicial Council, which replaced the National Judicial Service Commission upon enactment of the 2019 Constitutional Declaration
Subordinate courts: Court of Appeal; other national courts; public courts; district, town, and rural courts
Political parties and leaders: Major Parties as of April 2019:
Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammad Uthman al-MIRGHANI]
Democratic Unionist Party or DUP [Babika BABIKER]
Federal Umma Party [Dr. Ahmed Babikir NAHAR]
Muslim Brotherhood or MB [Sadig Abdalla ABDELMAJID and Dr. Yousif Al-Hibir Nor-ELDAYIM]
National Congress Party or NCP [Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR]
National Umma Party or NUP [Fadlallah Baramah NASSER]
Popular Congress Party or PCP [Nawal Al-KHIDIR]
Reform Movement Now [Dr. Ghazi Salahuddin al-ATABANI]
Sudan National Front [Ali Mahmud HASANAYN]
Sudanese Communist Party or SCP [Mohammed Moktar Al-KHATEEB]
Sudanese Congress Party or SCoP [Omar El DIGAIR]
Umma Party for Reform and Development [Mubarak Al-Fadul Al-MAHDI]
Unionist Movement Party or UMP [led by DUP Chair Mohammed Osama Al-MERGHANI]
International organization participation: ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, CAEU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representationIn the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mohamed Abdalla Idris MOHAMED (since 16 September 2022)
In the us chancery: 2,210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 338-8,565
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 667-2,406
In the us email address and website:consular@sudanembassy.org
[link] From the us chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Lucy TAMLYN (since 3 February 2022)
From the us embassy: P.O. Box 699, Kilo 10, Soba, Khartoum
From the us mailing address: 2,200 Khartoum Place, Washington DC 20,521-2,200
From the us telephone: [249] 187-0-22,000
From the us email address and website: Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; colors and design based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I, but the meanings of the colors are expressed as follows: red signifies the struggle for freedom, white is the color of peace, light, and love, black represents the people of Sudan (in Arabic 'Sudan' means black), green is the color of Islam, agriculture, and prosperity
National anthemName: "Nahnu Djundulla Djundulwatan" (We Are the Army of God and of Our Land)
Lyrics and music: Sayed Ahmad Muhammad SALIH/Ahmad MURJAN
Note: adopted 1956; originally served as the anthem of the Sudanese military
top of pageAgriculture products: sugar cane, sorghum, milk, groundnuts, onions, sesame seed, goat milk, millet, bananas, wheat
Industries: oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly, milling
Public debt:
121.6% of GDP (2017 est.)
99.5% of GDP (2016 est.)
Exports:
$5.11 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$5 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
Partners: United Arab Emirates 31%, China 19%, Saudi Arabia 14%, India 12%, Egypt 5% (2019)
Commodities: gold, crude petroleum, sesame seeds, sheep, goats, cotton, ground nuts (2019)
Imports:
$9.79 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$8.24 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
Partners: China 31%, India 14%, United Arab Emirates 11%, Egypt 6% (2019)
Commodities: raw sugar, wheat, packaged medicines, jewelry, tires, cars and vehicle parts (2019)
Debt external:
$56.05 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$51.26 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Exchange rates:
Sudanese pounds (SDG) per US dollar
6.72 (2017 est.)
6.14 (2016 est.)
6.14 (2015 est.)
6.03 (2014 est.)
5.74 (2013 est.)
top of pageSudan - Communication 2022
top of pageBroadcast media: Following the establishment of Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government in August 2019, government-owned broadcasters became increasingly independent from government and military control. Following the October 2021 military takeover, additional restrictions were imposed on these government-owned broadcasters, which now practice a heightened degree of self-censorship but still operate more independently than in the pre-2019 environment. (2022)
top of pageMilitary expenditures:
1% of GDP (2021 est.)
1% of GDP (2020 est.)
2.4% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $2.08 billion)
2% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $2.08 billion)
3.6% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $2.75 billion)
Note: many defense expenditures are probably off-budget
Military and security forces:
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF): Ground Force, Navy, Sudanese Air Force; Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Border Guards
Ministry of Interior: security police, special forces police, traffic police, Central Reserve Police (2022)
Military service age and obligation: 18-33 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service for men and women; 1-2 year service obligation (2022)
Note: implementation of conscription is reportedly uneven
Terrorist groups: Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); al-Qa’ida; Harakat Sawa’d Misr
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in
Appendix T.
Sudan - Transportation 2022
top of pagePipelines: 156 km gas, 4,070 km oil, 1,613 km refined products (2013)
Waterways: 4,068 km (2011) (1,723 km open year-round on White and Blue Nile Rivers)
Sudan - Transnational issues 2022
top of pageDisputes international:
Sudan-Central African Republic: periodic violent skirmishes persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic over water and grazing rights; Sudan closed its border with the Central African Republic in January 2022 due to security concerns
Refugees and internally displaced personsRefugees country of origin: 807,411 (South Sudan) (refugees and asylum seekers), 133,918 (Eritrea) (refugees and asylum seekers), 93,478 (Syria) (refugees and asylum seekers), 71,281 (Ethiopia) (refugees and asylum seekers), 24,369 (Central African Republic) (2022)
IDPs: 3.71 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region; government and rebel fighting along South Sudan border; inter-tribal clashes) (2022)
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