1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
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
Climate
tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)
Coastline
853 km
Environment
dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification
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
Irrigated land
18,900 km2 (1989 est.)
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
Land use
arable land: 5% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 24% forest and woodland: 20% other: 51%
Location
Northern Africa, along the Red Sea, between Egypt and Ethiopia
Map references
Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 18 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
small reserves of petroleum, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver
Note
largest country in Africa
Terrain
generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west
People and Society
Birth rate
42.65 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
12.45 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Ethnic divisions
black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Infant mortality rate
81.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
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)
Languages
Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English note: program of Arabization in process
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 53.85 years male: 53 years female: 54.73 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 27% male: 43% female: 12%
Nationality
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural) adjective: Sudanese
Net migration rate
-6.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
28,730,381 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
2.38% (1993 est.)
Religions
Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)
Total fertility rate
6.19 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
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
Capital
Khartoum
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)
Constitution
12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989
Digraph
SU
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
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
FAX
Telex 22619
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)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts
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
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
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
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
National holiday
Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
Other political or pressure groups
National Islamic Front, Hasan al-TURABI
Political parties and leaders
none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup
Suffrage
none
Type
military civilian government suspended and martial law imposed after 30 June 1989 coup
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
Economy
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
Budget
revenues $1.3 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $505 million (FY91 est.)
Currency
1 Sudanese pound (#Sd) = 100 piasters
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
Electricity
610,000 kW capacity; 905 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1991)
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)
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)
External debt
$15 billion (June 1992 est.)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June
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)
Industrial production
growth rate 4.8%; accounts for 11% of GDP (FY92)
Industries
cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
150% (FY92 est.)
National product
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $5.2 billion (FY92 est.)
National product per capita
$184 (FY92 est.)
National product real growth rate
9% (FY92 est.)
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.
Unemployment rate
30% (FY92 est.)
Communications
Airports
total: 68 usable: 56 with permanent-surface runways: 10 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 30
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
Merchant marine
5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 42,277 GRT/59,588 DWT; includes 3 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off
Pipelines
refined products 815 km
Ports
Port Sudan, Sawakin
Railroads
5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter-gauge plantation line
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
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $339 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)
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.)