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Sudan
AFRICA
FACTFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of the Sudan
DATE OF FORMATION: 1956
CAPITAL: Khartoum
POPULATION: 42.3 million
TOTAL AREA: 967,493 sq. miles
(2,505,810 sq. km)
DENSITY: 44 people per sq. mile
LANGUAGES: Arabic*, African languages
RELIGIONS: Muslim 70%, traditional
beliefs 20%, Christian 9%, other 1%
ETHNIC MIX: Black 59% (including Beja
and Dinka 7%), Arab 40%, other 1%
GOVERNMENT: Presidential system
CURRENCY: Sudanese pound or dinar
= 100 piastres
The largest country in Africa, Sudan has undergone
two civil wars between its Arab north and black African south.
Darfur in the west now endures a terrible humanitarian crisis.
GEOGRAPHY
Lies within the upper Nile basin.
Mostly arid plains, with marshes in the
south. Highlands border the Red Sea in
the northeast.
CLIMATE
North is hot, arid desert with
constant dry winds. Rainy season ranging
from two months in the center to eight
in the south.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
Two million people are nomads.
Many ethnic groups. Key social divide is
between Arabized Muslims in north, and
mostly black African, largely Christian or
animist peoples in south. Attempts to
impose Arab and Islamic values were the
root cause of civil war (1955–1972, 1983–
2005). Ethnic violence by Arab militias in
Darfur since 2003 has killed 300,000
people: huge refugee crisis. Women’s
rights are restricted.
THE ECONOMY
Oil exports. Cotton, sesame, gum
arabic. Violence and drought hamper
farming. Millions of people displaced.
INSIGHT: Sudan’s Sudd is the
world’s largest swamp
2000m/6562ft
1000m/3281ft
500m/1640ft
200m/656ft
Sea Level400 km400 miles00LIBYAEGYPTERITREAETHIOPIACHADCENTRAL
AFRICAN
REPUBLICDEM. REP.
CONGO UGANDAKENYAR
e
d(^) S
e
a
Nubian
Desert
Sudd Elemi
Triangle
D
a
r
f
u
r
N
il
e
Blue Nile
Jonglei Canal
W
h
it
e
N
il
e
Kosti
Omdurman
Port Sudan
Wad Medani
Kassala
El Obeid
El Geneina
Juba
Atbara
Sodiri
KHARTOUM