Irrigated land: 19,460 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: dust storms

Environment-current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification

Environment-international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

@Sudan:People

Population: 33,550,552 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 45% (male 7,769,266; female 7,449,510) 15-64 years: 52% (male 8,818,018; female 8,778,485) 65 years and over: 3% (male 410,170; female 325,103) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.73% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 39.94 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)