Sudan
Republic of the Sudan
Capital: Khartoum
The Sudan Bulletin
Weekly Brief: May 4, 2015
Top Story Representatives from around the world traveled to New York this week to begin the ninth review conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Review conferences have been held every five years since the NPT entered into effect in 1970. American Secretary of State John Kerry, who will lead his country’s […]
Weekly Brief: April 20, 2015
Africa Al-Shabab militants drove a car loaded with explosives into a government compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday. After the explosion, gunmen stormed the government offices and killed at least 17 people, including eight civilians and two soldiers. Security guards and Somali special forces soldiers eventually managed to secure the building, killing five attackers.
Weekly Brief: March 30, 2015
Middle East Fighting in Yemen continued to escalate this week. On Wednesday, the Houthi rebels seized an airbase as they moved closer to the city of Aden, where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sheltered. By Thursday, Mr. Hadi had briefly sought shelter in Oman before moving on to Riyadh. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia led airstrikes against the Houthis in […]
Conflict Report: South Sudan
Background South Sudan became a country on July 9, 2011. Its independence from Sudan brought an end to part of a devastating civil war that had originated in southern Sudan in 1983. Less than three years after declaring independence, South Sudan became embroiled in its own civil conflict. On December 15, 2013, President Salva Kiir […]
History
Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972 but broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than four million people displaced and, according to rebel estimates, more than two million deaths over a period of two decades. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords. The final North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years followed by a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan. The referendum was held in January 2011 and indicated overwhelming support for independence. South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011. Since southern independence Sudan has been combating rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. A separate conflict, which broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003, has displaced nearly two million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths. The UN took command of the Darfur peacekeeping operation from the African Union in December 2007. Peacekeeping troops have struggled to stabilize the situation, which has become increasingly regional in scope and has brought instability to eastern Chad. Sudan also has faced large refugee influxes from neighboring countries primarily Ethiopia and Chad. Armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and lack of government support have chronically obstructed the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations.
Geography
Metric Units
| Total Area | 1,861,484 sq km |
| Land Boundaries | 6,751 km |
| Border Countries | Central African Republic 175 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt 1,275 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 769 km, Libya 383 km, South Sudan 2,184 km |
| Coastline | 853 km |
| Terrain | generally flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north |
| Minimum Elevation | 0 m |
| Maximum Elevation | 3,071 m |
| Climate | hot and dry; arid desert; rainy season varies by region (April to November) |
| Natural Resources | petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold; hydropower |
| Arable Land | 6.76% |
| Permanent Crops | 0.07% |
Economy
| Gross Domestic Product | $80.43 billion |
| GDP (per capita) | $2,400 |
| GDP Growth | -11.2% |
| Unemployment Rate | 20% |
| Population in Poverty | 46.5% |
| GINI Index | No data |
Budget & Debt
| Expenditures | $10.07 billion |
| Revenue | $4.52 billion |
| Current Account Balance | $-3.58 billion |
| External Debt | $39.7 billion |
Trade
| Exports | $4.55 billion |
| Export Items | gold |
| Export Partners | Macau 65.2%, UAE 15.5% (2011) |
| Imports | $6.65 billion |
| Import Items | foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat |
| Import Partners | Macau 21.5%, UAE 10.1%, Saudi Arabia 6.9%, India 6.7%, Egypt 5.8%, Germany 4.8% (2011) |
People
| Population | 34,847,910 |
| Population Growth | 1.83% |
| Ethnic Groups | Sudanese Arab (approximately 70%), Fur, Beja, Nuba, Fallata |
| Religion | Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority |
| Life Expectancy | 62.95 years |
| Infant Mortality | 1.02 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality | 3.7 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
| Electricity Production | 6.51 billion kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 4.61 billion kWh |
| From Fossil Fuels | 30.7% |
| From Nuclear | 0% |
| From Hydroelectric | 66.3% |
| From Renewable Sources | 3% |
