Sudan

• tropical in south;
• arid desert in north;
• rainy season (April to October)

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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

0-14 years:

44.2% (male 8,385,554; female 8,023,847)

15-64 years:

53.6% (male 9,945,683; female 9,933,383)

65 years and over:

2.2% (male 447,214; female 354,617) (2002 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.26 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

noun:

Sudanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Sudanese

conventional long form:

Republic of the Sudan

conventional short form:

Sudan

local short form:

As-Sudan

local long form:

Jumhuriyat as-Sudan

former:

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

• authoritarian regime - ruling military junta took power in 1989;
• government is run by an alliance of the military and the National Congress Party (NCP), formerly the National Islamic Front (NIF), which espouses an Islamist platform

• 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985;
• interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989;
• new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998 partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR

• 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;
• some separate religious courts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

chief of state:

President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

elections:

president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 13-23 December 2000 (next to be held NA 2005)

note: BASHIR assumed supreme executive power in 1989 and retained it through several transitional governments in the early and mid-90s before being popularly elected for the first time in March 1996

election results:

• Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR reelected president;
• percent of vote - Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 86.5%, Ja'afar Muhammed NUMAYRI 9.6%, three other candidates received less than a combined 4% of the vote;
• election widely viewed as rigged;
• all popular opposition parties boycotted elections because of a lack of guarantees for a free and fair poll

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers appointed by the president;
• note - the National Congress Party or NCP (formerly the National Islamic Front or NIF) dominates BASHIR's cabinet

head of government:

President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

• the government allows political "associations" under a 1998 law revised in 2000;
• to obtain government approval parties must accept the constitution and refrain from advocating or using violence against the regime;
• approved parties include the National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR], Popular National Congress or PNC [Hassan al-TURABI], and over 20 minor, pro-government parties

• National Congress Party [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR];
• Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI];
• Umma [Sadiq al-MAHDI];
• Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI];
• National Democratic Alliance [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI, chairman];
• Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army [Dr. John GARANG]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge D'Affairs, Ad Interim Khidir Haroun AHMED (since April 2001)

telephone:

[1] (202) 338-8565

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2406

chancery:

2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

• For security reasons, US officials at the US Embassy in Khartoum were relocated in February 1996 to the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make regular visits to Khartoum;
• the US Embassy in Khartoum is located on Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue;
• mailing address - P. O. Box 699, Khartoum;
• APO AE 09829;
• telephone - [249] (11) 774611 or 774700;
• FAX - [249] (11) 774137;
• the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located in the Interim Office Building on Mombasa Road, Nairobi;
• mailing address - P. O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831;
• telephone - [254] (2) 751613;
• FAX - [254] (2) 743204;
• the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is located at (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo;
• mailing address - Unit 64900, APO AE 09839-4900;
• telephone - [20] (2) 3557371;
• FAX - [20] (2) 3573200

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

total:

5,995 km

narrow gauge:

4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge plantation line

note: the 1.067-m line from Khartoum to Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic; the 0.600-m gauge system serves Sudan's cotton plantations with over 120 collecting stations (2001)

total:

11,900 km

paved:

4,320 km

unpaved:

7,580 km (1996)

total:

4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,545 GRT/51,195 DWT

ships by type:

cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2002 est.)

• Sudan agrees in 2002 to demarcate whole boundary with Ethiopia;
• Egypt and Sudan each claim to administer triangular areas which extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel (the north "Hala'ib Triangle" is the largest with 20,580 sq km);
• in 2001, the two states agreed to discuss an "area of integration" and withdraw military forces in the overlapping areas;
• since colonial times, Kenya's administrative boundary has extended beyond its treaty boundary into Sudan creating the "Ilemi Triangle"