Sudan




                                 Geography


Location:
     Northern Africa, along the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
Map references:
     Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     2,505,810 sq km
land area:
     2.376 million sq km
comparative area:
     slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Land boundaries:
     total 7,687 km, Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km,
     Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 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 sq km, the dispute over this area escalated in
     1993, this area continues to be in dispute
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 sq km (1989 est.)




Environment:
current issues:
     contaminated water supplies present human health risks; wildlife
     populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion;
     desertification
natural hazards:
     dust storms
international agreements:
     party to - Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
     Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified -
     Biodiversity
Note:
     largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries


                                  People


Population:
     29,419,798 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     2.36% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     41.95 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     12.09 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -6.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     79.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     54.27 years
male:
     53.4 years
female:
     55.19 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     6.09 children born/woman (1994 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 est.)




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)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Republic of the Sudan
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
local short form:
     As-Sudan
former:
     Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Digraph:
     SU
Type:
     ruling military junta - Revolutionary Command Council - dissolved on
     16 October 1993 and government civilianized
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)
National holiday:
     Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
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 now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in
     the northern states; the council is still studying criminal provisions
     under Islamic law; Islamic law applies to all residents of the six
     northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious
     courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
     none




Executive branch:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
     President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October
     1993); prior to 16 October 1993, BASHIR served concurrently as Chief
     of State, Chairman of the RCC, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence
     (since 30 June 1989);  Vice President Major General al-Zubayr Muhammad
     SALIH (since 19 October 1993); note - upon its dissolution on 16
     October 1993, the RCC's executive and legislative powers were devolved
     to the President and the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), Sudan's
     appointed legislative body
cabinet:
     Cabinet; appointed by the president; note - on 30 October 1993
     President BASHIR announced a new, predominantly civilian cabinet,
     consisting of 20 federal ministers, most of whom retained their
     previous cabinet positions
note:
     Lt. Gen. BASHIR's 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
Legislative branch:
     appointed 300-member Transitional National Assembly; officially
     assumes all legislative authority for Sudan until the eventual,
     unspecified resumption of national elections
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts
Political parties and leaders:
     none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup
Other political or pressure groups:
     National Islamic Front, Hasan al-TURABI
Member of:
     ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA,
     IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
     IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU,
     WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Ahmad SULAYMAN
chancery:
     2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 338-8565 through 8570
FAX:
     (202) 667-2406
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 AMEM SD




Flag:
     three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a
     green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side


                                  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. The government
     implemented a comprehensive economic reform program in 1992 that
     included slashing the fiscal deficit, liberalizing foreign exchange
     regulations, and lifting most price controls, but it had backtracked
     on most reforms by mid-1993 because of its fear of generating a
     domestic backlash. The government's failure to pursue economic reform,
     its continued prosecution of the civil war, and its growing
     international isolation have led to a further deterioration of the
     non-agricultural sectors of the economy during 1993. Agriculture, on
     the other hand, after several disappointing years, enjoyed favorable
     growing conditions in 1993, and its strong performance produced an
     overall growth rate in GNP of about 7%.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $21.5 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     7% (FY93 est.)
National product per capita:
     $750 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     105% (FY93 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     30% (FY93 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $374.4 million
expenditures:
     $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $214 million (1993
     est.)
Exports:
     $350 million (f.o.b., FY93 est.)
commodities:
     cotton 52%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts
partners:
     Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US
     3% (FY88)




Imports:
     $1.1 billion (c.i.f., FY93 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:
     $17 billion (June 1993 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 6.8% (FY93 est.); accounts for 11% of GDP (FY92)
Electricity:
capacity:
     610,000 kW
production:
     905 million kWh
consumption per capita:
     40 kWh (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:
recipient:
     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 piastres
Exchange rates:
     official rate - Sudanese pounds (#Sd) per US$1 - 215 (January 1994),
     333.3 (December 1993), 90.1 (March 1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (fixed
     rate since 1987); note - the commercial rate is 300 (January 1994)
Fiscal year:
     1 July - 30 June


                              Communications


Railroads:
     5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter-gauge
     plantation line
Highways:
total:
     20,703 km
paved:
     bituminous treated 2,000 km
unpaved:
     gravel 4,000 km; improved earth 2,304 km; unimproved earth  12,399 km




Inland waterways:
     5,310 km navigable
Pipelines:
     refined products 815 km
Ports:
     Port Sudan, Sawakin
Merchant marine:
     10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 89,842 GRT/122,379 DWT, cargo 8,
     roll-on/roll-off cargo 2
Airports:
total:
     70
usable:
     58
with permanent-surface runways:
     9
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     7
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     29
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


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     Army, Navy, Air Force
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 6,640,123; fit for military service 4,080,715; reach
     military age (18) annually 305,885 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $339 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)