Society and culture
Sudanese culture combines the behaviors, practices(customary actions; habits), and beliefs of about 578 tribes, communicating in 145 different languages. The country has geographic extremes varying from sandy desert(an area of land with little water or vegetation) to tropical forest.
Population
Sudan has a population of more than 39 million people. There are 597 different tribes(socially, ethnically, and politically cohesive groups of people). One major ethnic group in Sudan are the Arabs. Sudan also hosts a refugee(a person seeking a state of safety, protection or shelter in a foreign country) population. According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, 310,500 refugees lived in Sudan in 2007. The majority of this population comes from Eritrea, Chad, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic.
Languages
Sudan's official languages are Arabic and English. However, English is only spoken by educated people. The total number of languages used in Sudan is around 142. 133 are currently spoken languages and 9 languages are extinct(no longer used). The most used languages are Arabic in the north, east, west and middle regions, and tribal languages in the whole country. The lingua franca(a common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another) in Southern Sudan is a variant(something that is slightly different from a type or norm) of Arabic called Juba Arabic.
Religion
Three religions are dominant in Sudan: Islam, Animism and Christianity. An estimated 70% of the population adheres to(to remain fixed, either by personal union or conformity of faith, principle, or opinion) Islam. The remainder(rest) of the population follows either animist and indigenous(native to an area) beliefs (25%) or Christianity (5%). Islam predominates in the north, while traditional indigenous beliefs (Animism) and Christianity are dominant in the south.