1989 Edition

Climate

tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)

Coastline

853 km

Comparative area

slightly more than one quarter the size of US

Contiguous zone

18 nm

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Disputes

international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Kenya; international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Egypt

Environment

dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification

Land boundaries

7,697 km total; 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

Land use

5% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 24% meadows and pastures; 20% forest and woodland; 51% other; includes 1% irrigated

Natural resources

modest reserves of crude oil, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, crude oil

Note

largest country in Africa

Terrain

generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west

Territorial sea

1 2 nm

Total area

2,505,810 km2; land area: 2,376,000 km2

Birth rate

44 births/ 1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

1 4 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

52% black, 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 2% foreigners, 1% other

Infant mortality rate

107 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

6,500,000; 80% agriculture, 10% industry and commerce, 6% government; labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.); 52% of population of working age (1985)

Language

Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, NiloHamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process

Life expectancy at birth

5 1 years male, 55 years female (1990)

Literacy

31% (1986)

Nationality

noun — Sudanese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Sudanese

Net migration rate

— 2 migrants/ 1 ,000 population ( 1 990)

Organized labor

trade unions suspended following 30 June 1989 coup; now in process of being legalized anew

Population

24,971,806 (July 1990), growth rate 2.9% (1990)

Religion

70% Sunni Muslim (in north), 20% indigenous beliefs, 5% Christian (mostly in south and Khartoum)

Total fertility rate

6.5 children born/ woman (1990)

Administrative divisions

9 regions (aqalTm, singular — iqlTm); A'5lT an Nil, Al Awsat, Al Istiwa'T, Al Khartum, Ash Shamall, Ash SharqT, Bahr al Ghazal, DarfGr, Kurduffin

Capital

Khartoum

Constitution

12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador 'Abdallah Ahmad 'ABDALLAH; Chancery at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 338-8565 through 8570; there is a Sudanese Consulate General in New York; US — Ambassador James CHEEK; Embassy at Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum (mailing address is P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO New York 09668); telephone 74700 or 75680, 7461 1

Elections

none

Executive branch

executive and legislative authority vested in a 1 5-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

Flag

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

Independence

1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK; formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts Sudan (continued)

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government— Revolutionary Command Council Chairman and Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 30 June 1989); Deputy Chairman of the Command Council and Deputy Prime Minister Brig. Gen. al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH (since 9 July 1989) Political parties and leaders: none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup

Legal system

based on English common law and Islamic law; in September 1983 then President Nimeiri declared the penal code would conform to Islamic law; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch

none

Long-form name

Republic of the Sudan

Member of

ACP, AfDB, APC, Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, I MO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Suffrage

none

Type

military; civilian government suspended and martial law imposed after 30 June 1989 coup

Agriculture

accounts for 35% of GNP and 80% of labor force; untapped potential for higher farm production; 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

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $588 million

Budget

revenues $514 million; expenditures $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $183 million (FY89 est.)

Currency

Sudanese pound (plural — pounds); 1 Sudanese pound (£Sd) = 100 piasters

Electricity

606,000 kW capacity; 900 million kWh produced, 37 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

official rate — Sudanese pounds (£Sd) per US$1— 4.5004 (fixed rate since 1987), 2.8121 (1987), 2.5000 (1986), 2.2883 (1985); note— commercial exchange rate is set daily, 12.2 (March 1990)

Exports

$550 million (f.o.b., FY89 est.); commodities — cotton 43%, sesame, gum arable, peanuts; partners — Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 1 4%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3% (FY88)

External debt

$1 1.6 billion (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

GDP

$8.5 billion, per capita $340 (FY87); real growth rate 7.0% (FY89 est.)

Imports

$1.2 billion (c.i.f., FY89 est.); commodities — petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals; partners — Western Europe 32%, Africa and Asia 15%, US 13%, Eastern Europe 3% (FY88)

Industrial production

growth rate — 1 .7% (FY89 est.)

Industries

cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

70% (FY89)

Overview

Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, 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. A high foreign debt and arrearages of about $13 billion continue to cause difficulties. Since 1979 the International Monetary Fund has provided assistance and has forced Sudan to make economic reforms aimed at improving the performance of the economy.

Unemployment rate

NA

Airports

14 total, 13 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 7 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

78 total, 68 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 31 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Army, Air Force, Navy, Police Force, Special Police Task Force, National Auxiliary Force

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force

Civil air

8 major transport (including 1 leased)

14 major transport aircraft

Defense expenditures

5% of GDP, or $300 million (1989 est.) Str regional ma

7.2% of GDP, or $6 10 million (1989 est)

Highways

66,176 km total (1985); 24,300 km paved (mostly bituminous treated), 28,916 km crushed stone or gravel, 12,960 km improved earth or unimproved earth; several thousand km of mostly unmotorable tracks

20,000 km total; 1 ,600 km bituminous treated, 3,700 km gravel, 2,301 km improved earth, 1 2,399 km unimproved earth and track

Inland waterways

430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

5,310 km navigable

Merchant marine

40 ships (1,000 CRT or over) totaling 258,923 GRT/334,702 DWT; includes 22 cargo, 8 refrigerated cargo, 4 container, 1 livestock carrier, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk

10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 91,107 GRT/ 122,222 DWT; includes 8 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo

Military manpower

males 15-49, 4,568,648; 3,574,637 fit for military service; 177,610 reach military age (18) annually

males 15-49, 5,621,469; 3,437,004 fit for military service; 273,01 1 reach military age (18) annually

Pipelines

crude and refined products, 62 km (1987)

refined products, 815 km

Ports

Colombo, Trincomalee

Port Sudan, Suakin

Railroads

1,868 km total (1985); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned

5,500 km total; 4,784 km 1 .067-meter gauge, 7 1 6 km 1 .6096-metergauge plantation line

Telecommunications

good international service; 109,900 telephones (1982); stations—12 AM, 5 FM, 1 TV; submarine cables extend to Indonesia, Djibouti, India; 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations Defense Forces

large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained; consists of radio relay, cables, radio communications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; 73,400 telephones; stations — 4 AM, 1 FM, 2 TV; satellite earth stations — 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT Defense Forces