1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
2,504,530 km2; 37% arable (3% cultivated), 15% grazing, 33% desert, waste, or urban, 15% forest
Coastline
853 km
Land boundaries
7,805 km WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone")
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
39% Arab, 6% Beja, 52% Negro, 2% foreigners, 1% other
Labor force
8.6 million (1979); roughly 78% agriculture, 10% industry, 12% services; labor shortages for almost all categories of employment coexist with urban unemployment
Language
Arabic, Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process
Literacy
20%
Nationality
noun—Sudanese (sing. and pl.); adjective—Sudanese
Population
19,868,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.8%
Religion
73% Sunni Muslims in north, 23% pagan, 4% Christian (mostly in south)
Government
Branches
President and Cabinet; 151-member People's Assembly; five new regional assemblies inaugurated in June 1981 for northern Sudan; plans for the division of southern Sudan are under consideration
Capital
Khartoum
Elections
elections for National People's Assembly held in December 1981-January 1982; most recent presidential election held April 1977 with Nimeiri as sole candidate Political parties and leaders: all parliamentary political parties outlawed since May 1969; the ban on the Sudan Communist Party was not enforced until after abortive coup in July 1971; the government's mass political organization, the Sudan Socialist Union, was formed in January 1972
Government leader
President Gen. Gaafar Mohamed NIMEIRI
Member of
AFDB, APC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 1 January
Official name
Democratic Republic of the Sudan
Other political or pressure groups
Muslim Brotherhood, formerly at odds with, the, military regime, now participates actively in government; Ansar Muslim sect and National Unionist Party do not participate directly in government
Political subdivisions
5 regions; regional governments were recently granted additional authority Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; some separate religious courts; permanent constitution promulgated April 1973; legal education at University of Khartoum and Khartoum extension of Cairo University at Khartoum; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage
universal adult
Type
republic under military control since coup in May 1969
Economy
Agriculture
main crops—sorghum, millet, wheat, sesame, peanuts, beans, barley; not self-sufficient in food production; main cash crops—cotton, gum arabic, peanuts, sesame
Budget
(FY80) public revenue $2.0 billion, total expenditures $2.7 billion, including development expenditure of $660.0 million
Electric power
310,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.2 billion kWh produced (1980), 65 kWh per capita
Exports
$594.0 million (f.o.b., FY80); cotton (56%), gum arabic, peanuts, sesame; $187.3 million exports to Communist countries (FY79)
Fiscal year
1 July-30 June
GDP
$5.6 billion at current prices (1979), $270 per capita at current prices
Imports
$1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY80); textiles, petroleum products, vehicles, tea, wheat
Major industries
cotton ginning, textiles, brewery, cement, edible oils, soap, distilling, shoes, pharmaceuticals
Major trade partners
UK, West Germany, Italy, India, China, France, Japan
Monetary conversion rate
1 Sudanese pound=US$2.00 (official); 0.5 Sudanese pound=US$1
Communications
Airfields
80 total, 79 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 33 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
17 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in
Highways
20,000 km total; 1,576 km bituminous treated, 3,652 km gravel, 2,304 km improved earth; remainder unimproved earth and track
Inland waterways
5,310 km navigable
Pipelines
refined products, 815 km
Ports
1 major (Port Sudan)
Railroads
5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter gauge plantation line
Telecommunications
large system by African standards, but barely adequate; consists of radio relay, cables, radio communications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; 63,400 telephones (0.3 per 100 popl.); 5 AM, no FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station
Military and Security
Military manpower
males 15-49, 4,544,000; 2,778,000 fit for military service; 209,000 reach military age (18) annually