*Sudan, Geography

Location:
  Northern Africa, along the Red Sea, between Egypt and Ethiopia
Map references:
  Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  2,505,810 km2
 land area:
  2.376 million km2
 comparative area:
  slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Land boundaries:
  total 7,697 km, 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
International disputes:
  administrative boundary with Kenya does not coincide with international
  boundary; administrative boundary with Egypt does not coincide with
  international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of
  20,580 km2, the dispute over this area escalated in 1993
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 petroleum, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten,
  mica, silver
Land use:
 arable land:
  5%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  24%
 forest and woodland:
  20%
 other:
  51%
Irrigated land:
  18,900 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
  dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification
Note:
  largest country in Africa

*Sudan, People

Population:
  28,730,381 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  2.38% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  42.65 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  12.45 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -6.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  81.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  53.85 years
 male:
  53 years
 female:
  54.73 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:   6.19 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Sudanese (singular and plural)
 adjective:
  Sudanese
Ethnic divisions:
  black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Religions:
  Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in
  south and Khartoum)
Languages:
  Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic,
  Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
 note:
  program of Arabization in process
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
 total population:
  27%
 male:
  43%
 female:
  12%
Labor force:
  6.5 million
 by occupation:
  agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 10%, government 6%
 note:
  labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.);
  52% of population of working age (1985)

*Sudan, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Republic of the Sudan
 conventional short form:
  Sudan
 local long form:
  Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
 local short form:
  As-Sudan
 former:
  Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Digraph:
  SU
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)
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)
Political parties and leaders:
  none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup
Other political or pressure groups:
  National Islamic Front, Hasan al-TURABI
Suffrage:
  none
Elections:
  none
Executive branch:
  executive and legislative authority vested in a 10-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
 note:
  Lt. Gen. BASHIR's military government is dominated by members of Sudan's
  National Islamic Front, a fundamentalist political organization formed from
  the Muslim Brotherhood in 1986; front leader Hasan al-TURABI controls
  Khartoum's overall domestic and foreign policies

*Sudan, Government

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)
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 in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador 'Abdalla Ahmad 'ABDALLA
 chancery:
  2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 338-8565 through 8570
 consulate general:
  New York
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Donald K. PETTERSON
 embassy:
  Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum
 mailing address:
  P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO AE 09829
 telephone:
  74700 or 74611
 FAX:
  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, a drop in remittances from abroad, 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 large 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.
  Growth in 1992 was featured by the recovery of agricultural production in
  northern Sudan after two years of drought.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $5.2 billion (FY92 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  9% (FY92 est.)
National product per capita:
  $184 (FY92 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  150% (FY92 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  30% (FY92 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $1.3 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $505 million (FY91 est.)
Exports:
  $315 million (f.o.b., FY92 est.)
 commodities:
  cotton 52%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts
 partners:
  Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3%
  (FY88)
Imports:
  $1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY92 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:
  $15 billion (June 1992 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 4.8%; accounts for 11% of GDP (FY92)
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

*Sudan, Economy

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
Currency:
  1 Sudanese pound (#Sd) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates:
  official rate - Sudanese pounds (#Sd) per US$1 - 124 (January 1993), 90.1
  (March 1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (fixed rate since 1987), 2.8121 (1987);
  note - free market rate 155 (January 1993)
Fiscal year:
  1 July - 30 June

*Sudan, Communications

Railroads:
  5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter-gauge
  plantation line
Highways:
  20,703 km total; 2,000 km bituminous treated, 4,000 km gravel, 2,304 km
  improved earth, 12,399 km unimproved earth and track
Inland waterways:
  5,310 km navigable
Pipelines:
  refined products 815 km
Ports:
  Port Sudan, Sawakin
Merchant marine:
  5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 42,277 GRT/59,588 DWT; includes 3
  cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off
Airports:
 total:
  68
 usable:
  56
 with permanent-surface runways:
  10
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  6
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  30
Telecommunications:
  large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and
  poorly maintained by modern standards; consists of microwave radio relay,
  cable, radio communications, troposcatter, and a domestic satellite system
  with 14 stations; broadcast stations - 11 AM, 3 TV; satellite earth stations
  for international traffic - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT

*Sudan, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 6,488,864; fit for military service 3,986,084; reach
  military age (18) annually 301,573 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $339 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)