Sudan

• tropical in south;
• arid desert in north;
• rainy season varies by region (April to November)

• generally flat, featureless plain;
• mountains in far south, northeast and west;
• desert dominates the north

total:

37.32 cu km/yr (3%/1%/97%)

per capita:

1,030 cu m/yr (2000)

• inadequate supplies of potable water;
• wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting;
• soil erosion;
• desertification;
• periodic drought

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.05 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

noun:

Sudanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Sudanese

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

• Government of National Unity (GNU) - the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) formed a power-sharing government under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA);
• the NCP, which came to power by military coup in 1989, is the majority partner;
• the agreement stipulated national elections in 2009, but these were subsequently rescheduled for April 2010

name:

Khartoum

geographic coordinates:

15 36 N, 32 32 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 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;
• Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion;
• however, the CPA establishes some protections for non-Muslims in Khartoum;
• some separate religious courts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations;
• the southern legal system is still developing under the CPA following the civil war;
• Islamic law will not apply to the southern states

• Constitutional Court of nine justices;
• National Supreme Court;
• National Courts of Appeal;
• other national courts;
• National Judicial Service Commission will undertake overall management of the National Judiciary

• Democratic Unionist Party or DUP [Hatim al-SIR];
• National Congress Party or NCP [Umar Hassan al-BASHIR];
• Popular Congress Party or PCP [Hassan al-TURABI];
• Sudan People's Liberation Movement or SPLM [Salva KIIR];
• elements of the National Democratic Alliance or NDA including factions of the Democratic Union Party [Muhammad Uthman al-MIRGHANI] and Umma Party

• Umma Party [SADIQ Siddiq al-Mahdi];
• Popular Congress Party or PCP [Hassan al-TURABI];
• Darfur rebel groups including the Justice and Equality Movement or JEM [Khalil IBRAHIM] and the Sudan Liberation Movement or SLM [various factional leaders]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Akec Khoc ACIEW Khoc

chancery:

2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 338-8565

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2406

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Robert E. WHITEHEAD

embassy:

Sharia Ali Abdul Latif Street, Khartoum

mailing address:

P.O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 09829

telephone:

[249] (183) 774700 through 704

FAX:

[249] (183) 774137

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side;
• colors and design based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I, but the meanings of the colors are expressed as follows: red signifies the struggle for freedom, white is the color of peace, light, and love, black represents Sudan itself (in Arabic 'Sudan' means black), green is the color of Islam, agriculture, and prosperity

name:

"Nahnu Djundulla Djundulwatan" (We Are the Army of God and of Our Land)

lyrics/music:

Sayed Ahmad Muhammad SALIH/Ahmad MURJAN

note: adopted 1956; the song originally served as the anthem of the Sudanese military

agriculture:

80%

industry:

7%

services:

13% (1998 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded;
• cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially with wide coverage of most major cities

domestic:

consists of microwave radio relay, cable, fiber optic, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations

international:

• country code - 249;
• linked to international submarine cable Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG);
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Arabsat (2000)

• in the north, the Sudanese Government directly controls TV and radio, requiring that both media reflect government policies;
• TV has a permanent military censor;
• a private radio station is in operation;
• in southern Sudan, TV is controlled by the regional government;
• several private FM stations are operational in southern Sudan;
• some foreign radio broadcasts are available (2007)

total:

5,978 km

country comparison to the world: 30

narrow gauge:

4,578 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge for cotton plantations (2008)

total:

11,900 km

country comparison to the world: 131

paved:

4,320 km

unpaved:

7,580 km (2000)

total:

2

country comparison to the world: 142

by type:

cargo 2 (2010)

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF):

• Land Forces, Navy (includes Marines), Sudanese Air Force (Sikakh al-Jawwiya as-Sudaniya), Popular Defense Forces;
• Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA): Popular Army, Air Force (2009)

males age 16-49:

10,264,087

females age 16-49:

9,894,457 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

6,094,209

females age 16-49:

6,213,984 (2010 est.)

male:

506,742

female:

487,434 (2010 est.)

• the effects of Sudan's almost constant ethnic and rebel militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of the neighboring states;
• as of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which includes 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces;
• Sudan, in turn, hosted about 116,000 Eritreans, 20,000 Chadians, and smaller numbers of Ethiopians, Ugandans, Central Africans, and Congolese as refugees;
• in February 2006, Sudan and DROC signed an agreement to repatriate 13,300 Sudanese and 6,800 Congolese;
• Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups;
• efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia proceed slowly due to civil and ethnic fighting in eastern Sudan;
• the boundary that separates Kenya and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times;
• Sudan claims but Egypt de facto administers security and economic development of Halaib region north of the 22nd parallel boundary;
• periodic violent skirmishes with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic

refugees (country of origin):

• 157,220 (Eritrea);
• 25,023 (Chad);
• 11,009 (Ethiopia);
• 7,895 (Uganda);
• 5,023 (Central African Republic)

IDPs:

5.3 - 6.2 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region) (2007)

current situation:

• Sudan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked internally for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation;
• Sudan is also a transit and destination country for Ethiopian women trafficked abroad for domestic servitude;
• Sudanese women and girls are trafficked within the country as well as possibly to Middle Eastern countries for domestic servitude;
• the terrorist rebel organization, Lord's Resistance Army, continues to harbor small numbers of Sudanese and Ugandan children in the southern part of the country for use as cooks, porters, and combatants;
• some of these children are also trafficked across borders into Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
• militia groups in Darfur, some of which are linked to the government, abduct women for short periods of forced labor and to perpetrate sexual violence;
• during the two decades-long north-south civil war, thousands of Dinka women and children were abducted and subsequently enslaved by members of the Missiriya and Rezeigat tribes;
• while there have been no known new abductions of Dinka by members of Baggara tribes in the last few years, inter-tribal abductions continue in southern Sudan

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• combating human trafficking through law enforcement or prevention measures was not a priority for the government in 2007 (2008)