Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 55 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Sudanese (sing. and pl.); adjective—Sudanese
Ethnic divisions: 52% black, 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 2% foreigners, 1% other
Religion: 70% Sunni Muslim (in north), 20% indigenous beliefs, 5% Christian (mostly in south and Khartoum)
Language: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process
Literacy: 31% (1986)
Labor force: 6,500,000; 80% agriculture, 10% industry and commerce, 6% government; labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.); 52% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: trade unions suspended following 30 June 1989 coup; now in process of being legalized anew
- Government
Long-form name: Republic of the Sudan