:Sudan Geography
Total area:
2,505,810 km2
Land area:
2,376,000 km2
Comparative area:
slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Land boundaries:
7,697 km total; Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt
1,273 km, Ethiopia 2,221 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
Disputes:
administrative boundary with Kenya does not coincide with international
boundary; administrative boundary with Egypt does not coincide with
international boundary
Climate:
tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)
Terrain:
generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west
Natural resources:
small reserves of crude oil, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten,
mica, silver, crude oil
Land use:
arable land 5%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 24%; forest and
woodland 20%; other 51%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification
Note:
largest country in Africa
:Sudan People
Population:
28,305,046 (July 1992), growth rate 3.1% (1992)
Birth rate:
44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
13 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
83 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
53 years male, 54 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Sudanese (singular and plural); adjective - Sudanese
Ethnic divisions:
black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim (in north) 70%, indigenous beliefs 20%, Christian (mostly in
south and Khartoum) 5%
Languages:
Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic,
Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in
process
Literacy:
27% (male 43%, female 12%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
6,500,000; agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 10%, government 6%; 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
:Sudan Government
Long-form name:
Republic of the Sudan
Type:
military; civilian government suspended and martial law imposed after 30
June 1989 coup
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
Independence:
1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK; formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
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
Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the six northern states
of Al Wusta, Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah, Ash Sharqiyah, Darfur, and
Kurdufan; the council is still studying criminal provisions under Islamic
law; Islamic law will apply to all residents of the six northern states
regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday:
Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
Executive branch:
executive and legislative authority vested in a 12-member Revolutionary
Command Council (RCC); chairman of the RCC acts as prime minister; in July
1989, RCC appointed a predominately civilian 22-member cabinet to function
as advisers
Legislative branch:
appointed 300-member Transitional National Assembly; note - as announced 1
January 1992 by RCC Chairman BASHIR, the Assembly assumes all legislative
authority for Sudan until the eventual, unspecified resumption of national
elections
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
Revolutionary Command Council Chairman and Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Umar
Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 30 June 1989); Deputy Chairman of the Command
Council and Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH Ahmed
(since 9 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup
Suffrage:
none
Elections:
none
Member of:
ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador `Abdallah Ahmad `ABDALLAH; Chancery at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 338-8565 through 8570; there is a
Sudanese Consulate General in New York
:Sudan Government
US:
Ambassador James R. CHEEK (will be replaced summer of 1992); Embassy at
Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum (mailing address is P. O. Box 699,
Khartoum, or APO AE 09829); telephone 74700 or 74611; Telex 22619
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green
isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
:Sudan Economy
Overview:
Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse
weather, high inflation, 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 high
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. Despite
subsequent government efforts to implement reforms urged by the IMF and the
World Bank, the economy remained stagnant in FY91 as entrepreneurs lack the
incentive to take economic risks.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $12.1 billion, per capita $450; real growth rate
0% (FY91 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
95% (FY91 est.)
Unemployment rate:
15% (FY91 est.)
Budget:
revenues $1.3 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital
expenditures of $505 million (FY91 est.)
Exports:
$325 million (f.o.b., FY91 est.)
commodities:
cotton 52%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts
partners:
Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3%
(FY88)
Imports:
$1.40 billion (c.i.f., FY91 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)
External debt:
$14.6 billion (June 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate NA%; accounts for 11% of GDP (FY89)
Electricity:
610,000 kW capacity; 905 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling,
shoes, petroleum refining
Agriculture:
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
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.5 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $5.1 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $588
million