Sudan

Geography
The Republic of Sudan is the largest country in the whole of Africa, covering an area of nearly million square miles and extending from the northern boundaries of Uganda and Kenya in the south to Egypt in the north, to the east lies Ethiopia and to the west lie the Republic of Chad and Central Africa Republic. Physically Sudan can be divided roughly into three main regions:

  ?The Desert belt
  ? The Semi Desert belt
  ?The Clay plain

The climate is hot and dry from April to October, and pleasantly warm from November to March. The rainy season, in Khartoum is July and August. Haboobs (sand-storms) occur frequently from April to September. The Nile with a total length of some what more than 4000 miles, the longest river in the world; runs through the country from south to north.

The capital, Khartoum is connected by air to practically every part of the world and all the most important airlines operate there as well as Sudan Airways. A flight of about five hours links Khartoum to Europe. It takes only two hours to reach most important points in the Middle East. The connections within the country are provided by air, rail, and road services; beside there is the Nile.

The official language in Sudan is Arabic, but English is spoken widely through the country. The monetary unit is the Sudanese denar which is divided into 10 Sudanese pounds. Weekly closing day is Friday.

The people are peace loving and friendly. The visitor Sudan will find a wide variety of interests ranging from wild life to archaeology, from the Red sea to folklore and handicraft.

The Dinder National Park
It is one of the largest parks in the world with its 2,530 square miles. There are lions, giraffes, leopards, kudus, bushbuck, and antelope, together with several species of birds such as guinea fowl, vultures, pelicans, storks, kingfishers, and the beautiful crown cranes. Special three-day trips from Khartoum are organized in the high season (December-April).

The Southern Region
The Southern Region is characterized by green forests, open parkland, waterfalls, and treeless swamps abounding with birds and wild animals such as elephants, black and white rhinoceros, bongo, common eland, Nile lechwe, lesser kudu, oryx bisa, zebra, crocodiles, hippopotamus, hyenas and buffalo.

The Red Sea
With the transparency of its water, the variety of its fish and the charm of its marine gardens and coral reefs, it is one of Sudan's main tourist attractions. There are places like Port Sudan, Suakin famous during the Ottoman era, the Arous Tourist Village at thirty miles north of Port Sudan. Erkowit at 4,000 feet above sea-level and Jebel Marra, more than 10,000 feet, situated in western Sudan, are two famous mountains. Erkowit is covered with evergreen vegetation and on Jebel Marra there are waterfalls and volcanic lakes. It is an area of outstanding scenic beauty.

The Archaeological areas
Areas of archaeological interest stretch along the two banks of the river Nile north of Khartoum to Wadi Halfa. The monuments of Bajrawiya, Naga, Musawarat, El-kurru, Nuri, and Merwe are among the most fascinating in the whole area.

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea

Area-comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US

Land boundaries:
total: 7,687 km
border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km

Coastline: 853 km

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: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold

Geography—note: largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries

Population: 34,475,690 (July 1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Sudanese

Ethnic groups: 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

Country name:
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

Capital: Khartoum

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

Economy—overview: Sudan is a country in transition. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and trading. Agriculture employs 80% of the work force. A large foreign debt and huge arrears continue to cause difficulties. However, a number of issues are inhibiting Sudan's growth in the nonagricultural sectors. In particular, the civil war and Hyperinflation continue to hamper growth. In 1998, a top priority was to develop potentially lucrative oilfields in south-central Sudan; where the government is working with foreign partners to exploit the oil sector.

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

Agriculture—products: cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sesame; sheep

Exports—commodities: cotton 23%, sesame 22%, livestock/meat 13%, gum arabic 5% (1996)

Imports—commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles (1996)

Currency: 1 Sudanese pound (£Sd) = 100 piastres

Telephone system: large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained by modern standards
domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations
international: satellite earth stations? Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat

Railways:
total: 5,516 km
narrow gauge: 4,800 km 1.067-m gauge; 716 km 1.6096-m gauge plantation line

Highways:
total: 11,900 km
paved: 4,320 km
unpaved: 7,580 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Ports and harbors: Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port Sudan, Sawakin

Airports: 63 (1998 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1998 est.)

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force Militia

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