Sudan

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Overview

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Sudan

Anthem نحن جند لله جند الوطن (Arabic) (We are the Soldiers of God and of Our Land)
Capital Khartoum
Largest city Omdurman
Official language(s) Arabic / English
 
Demonym
 

Sudanese
Government Federal presidential democratic republic
Area 2,505,813 km2, 967,495 sq mi
Population ~ 42 million
Currency Sudanese pound (SDG)
Internet TLD .sd

Geography

Sudan
Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. The world's longest river, the Nile, divides the country between east and west sides.
Sudan
Sudan's capital is Khartoum with an urban population of 639,598 people. The city serves as the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. Omdurman remains the largest city. It has a population of around 2.4 million people.

Society and culture

Sudanese culture combines the behaviors, practices, and beliefs of about 578 tribes, communicating in 145 different languages. The country has geographic extremes varying from sandy desert to tropical forest.

Population

Sudan has a population of more than 39 million people. There are 597 different tribes. One major ethnic group in Sudan are the Arabs. Sudan also hosts a refugee 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. The most used languages are Arabic in the north, east, west and middle regions, and tribal languages in the whole country. The lingua franca in Southern Sudan is a variant of Arabic called Juba Arabic.

Religion

Three religions are dominant in Sudan: Islam, Animism and Christianity. An estimated 70% of the population adheres to Islam. The remainder of the population follows either animist and indigenous beliefs (25%) or Christianity (5%). Islam predominates in the north, while traditional indigenous beliefs (Animism) and Christianity are dominant in the south.

Government and politics

Officially, the country is a federal presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Sudan is Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and in the two chambers, the National Assembly (Lower House) and the Council of States (Upper House). The judiciary is independent and obtained by the Constitutional Court. However, Sudan is widely recognised as an authoritarian state where all effective political power is obtained by President Omar al-Bashir and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Economy

The Sudanese economy is growing. Currently oil is the country's main export. Rich mineral resources are available in Sudan including: petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, chromite, asbestos, zinc, iron, lead, uranium, copper, granite, nickel, tin, aluminum. Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the workforce .
 

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