Sudan
Background: Military dictatorships favoring an Islamic-oriented government have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years of this period (1972-82). Since 1983, the war and war- and famine-related effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced. The war pits the Arab/Muslim majority in Khartoum against the non-Muslim African rebels in the south. Since 1989, traditional northern Muslim parties have made common cause with the southern rebels and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance.
Geography Sudan
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and
Eritrea
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 2,505,810 sq km water: 129,810 sq km land: 2.376 million sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 7,687 km border countries: Central African
Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628
km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km,
Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km
Coastline: 853 km