Sudan

• tropical in south;
• arid desert in north;
• rainy season varies by region (April to November)

• generally flat, featureless plain;
• mountains in far south, northeast and west;
• desert dominates the north

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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.044 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.011 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.124 male(s)/female

total population:

1.027 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

noun:

Sudanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Sudanese

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

• Government of National Unity (GNU) - the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) formed a power-sharing government under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA);
• the NCP, which came to power by military coup in 1989, is the majority partner;
• the agreement stipulates national elections for the 2008 - 2009 timeframe.

name:

Khartoum

geographic coordinates:

15 36 N, 32 32 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• constitution implemented on 30 June 1998, partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR;
• under the CPA, Interim National Constitution ratified 5 July 2005;
• Constitution of Southern Sudan signed December 2005

• 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;
• however, the CPA establishes some protections for non-Muslims in Khartoum;
• some separate religious courts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations;
• the southern legal system is still developing under the CPA following the civil war;
• Islamic law will not apply to the southern states

• Constitutional Court of nine justices;
• National Supreme Court;
• National Courts of Appeal;
• other national courts;
• National Judicial Service Commission will undertake overall management of the National Judiciary

• National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed OMAR];
• Sudan People's Liberation Movement or SPLM [Salva Mayardit KIIR];
• and elements of the National Democratic Alliance or NDA including factions of the Democratic Union Party [Muhammad Uthman al-MIRGHANI] and Umma Party [SADIQ Siddiq al-Mahdi];
• note - all political parties listed above in the Government of National Unity

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires, Ad Interim John UKEC Lueth (since 17 October 2006)

chancery:

2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 338-8565

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2406

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Alberto M. Fernandez

embassy:

Sharia Ali Abdul Latif Avenue, Khartoum

mailing address:

P. O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 09829

telephone:

[249] (183) 774701/2/3

FAX:

[249] (183) 774137

note: US Consul in Cairo is providing backup service for Khartoum;

agriculture:

80%

industry:

7%

services:

13% (1998 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

total:

5,978 km

narrow gauge:

4,578 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge for cotton plantations (2006)

total:

11,900 km

paved:

4,320 km

unpaved:

7,580 km (1999)

total:

3 ships (1000 GRT or over) 21,311 GRT/26,179 DWT

by type:

cargo 2, livestock carrier 1 (2007)

males age 18-49:

8,291,695

females age 18-49:

8,135,683 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

5,427,474

females age 18-49:

5,649,566 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

442,915

females age 18-49:

426,320 (2005 est.)

• the effects of Sudan's almost constant ethnic and rebel militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of the neighboring states;
• as of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which includes 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces;
• Sudan, in turn, hosted about 116,000 Eritreans, 20,000 Chadians, and smaller numbers of Ethiopians, Ugandans, Central Africans, and Congolese as refugees;
• in February 2006, Sudan and DROC signed an agreement to repatriate 13,300 Sudanese and 6,800 Congolese;
• Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups;
• efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia proceed slowly due to civil and ethnic fighting in eastern Sudan;
• the boundary that separates Kenya and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times;
• while Sudan claims to administer the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel;
• both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s, and Egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area;
• periodic violent skirmishes with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic

refugees (country of origin):

116,746 (Eritrea), 20,000 (Chad), 14,633 (Ethiopia), 7,895 (Uganda), 5,023 (Central African Republic)

IDPs:

5,300,000 - 6,200,000 (internal conflict since 1980s; ongoing genocide in Darfur region, IDP registration for return to South Sudan started in 2005) (2006)

current situation:

• Sudan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation;
• Sudan may also be a transit and destination country for Ethiopian women trafficked for domestic servitude;
• boys are trafficked to the Middle East, particularly Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, for use as camel jockeys;
• small numbers of girls are reportedly trafficked within Sudan for domestic servitude as well as for commercial sexual exploitation in small brothels in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps;
• the terrorist rebel organization "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA) continues to abduct and forcibly conscript small numbers of children in Southern Sudan for use as cooks, porters, and combatants in its ongoing war against Uganda;
• some of these children are then trafficked across borders into Uganda or possibly the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
• children are utilized by rebel groups and the Sudanese Armed Forces and associated militias in the ongoing conflict in Darfur;
• during the decades of civil war, thousands of Dinka women and children were enslaved by members of Baggara tribes and subjected to various forms of forced labor without remuneration as well as physical and sexual abuse;
• with the cessation of the North-South conflict and the ongoing peace process, there were no known new abductions of Dinka by Baggara tribes during 2005;
• however, inter-tribal abductions of a different nature continue in Southern Sudan and warrant further investigation

tier rating:

Tier 3 - Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so