Sudan

• hot and dry;
• arid desert;
• rainy season varies by region (April to November)

• petroleum;
• small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold;
• hydropower

total:

27.59 cu km/yr (4%/1%/95%)

per capita:

683.4 cu m/yr (2005)

• 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

noun:

Sudanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Sudanese

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.24 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

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

• federal republic ruled by the National Congress Party (NCP), which seized power by military coup in 1989;
• the CPA-mandated Government of National Unity, which between 2005 and 2011 provided a percentage of leadership posts to the southern Sudan-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), was disbanded following the secession of South Sudan

name:

Khartoum

geographic coordinates:

15 36 N, 32 32 E

time difference:

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

• previous 1998;
• latest (interim) adopted 6 July 2005, effective 9 July 2005;
• note - in 2011, the Government of Sudan initiated a process for drafting a new constitution (2013)

highest court(s):

• National Supreme Court (consists of 70 judges organized into panels of 3 judges; court includes 4 circuits that operate outside the capital);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 9 justices including the court president);
• note - the Constitutional Court resides outside the national judiciary

judge selection and term of office:

• National Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president of the republic upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Service Commission, an independent body chaired by the chief justice of the republic and members including other judges and judicial and legal officials;
• Supreme Court judge tenure NA;
• Constitutional Court judges appointed for 7 years

subordinate courts:

• National Court of Appeals;
• other national courts (not specified in the 2005 Interim National Constitution as to national or local authority);
• township and rural (peoples') courts

• Democratic Unionist Party or DUP [Muhammad Uthman al-MIRGHANI]
• Muslim Brotherhood or MB
• National Congress Party or NCP [Umar Hassan al-BASHIR]
• National Umma Party or UP [Siddiq al-MAHDI]
• Popular Congress Party or PCP [Hassan al-TURABI]
• Reform Now Party or RNP [Dr. Ghazi Salah ADDEEN]
• Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) [Mohammed Moktar Al-KHATEEB]
• Sudanese Congress Party [Ibrahim Al Shiek ABDULRAHMAN]
• Unionist Movement Party or UMP [Nagla AL-AZHARI]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Elhafiz Eisa Abdulla ADAM

chancery:

2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 338-8565

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2406

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission Christopher ROWAN (since December 2012)

embassy:

Sharia Ali Abdul Latif Street, Khartoum

mailing address:

P.O. Box 699, Kilo 10, Soba, Khartoum; APO AE 09829

telephone:

[249] (187)-0-(22000)

FAX:

[249] (183) 774-137

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side;
• colors and design based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I, but the meanings of the colors are expressed as follows: red signifies the struggle for freedom, white is the color of peace, light, and love, black represents Sudan itself (in Arabic 'Sudan' means black), green is the color of Islam, agriculture, and prosperity

agriculture:

80%

industry:

7%

services:

13% (1998 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.7%

highest 10%:

26.7% (2009 est.)

• gold;
• oil and petroleum products;
• cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar

general assessment:

• well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded;
• cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially with wide coverage of most major cities

domestic:

consists of microwave radio relay, cable, fiber optic, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations

international:

• country code - 249;
• linked to the EASSy and FLAG fiber-optic submarine cable systems;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Arabsat (2010)

• the Sudanese Government directly controls TV and radio, requiring that both media reflect government policies;
• TV has a permanent military censor;
• a private radio station is in operation (2007)

total:

5,978 km

country comparison to the world: 30

narrow gauge:

4,578 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge for cotton plantations (2008)

total:

11,900 km

country comparison to the world: 128

paved:

4,320 km

unpaved:

7,580 km (2000)

total:

2

country comparison to the world: 140

by type:

cargo 2 (2010)

• 18-33 years of age for male and female compulsory or voluntary military service;
• 1-2 year service obligation;
• a requirement that completion of national service was mandatory before entering public or private sector employment has been cancelled (2012)

males age 16-49:

10,433,973

females age 16-49:

10,411,443 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

6,475,530

females age 16-49:

6,840,885 (2010 est.)

male:

532,030

female:

512,476 (2010 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;
• Chad wishes to be a helpful mediator in resolving the Darfur conflict, and in 2010 established a joint border monitoring force with Sudan, which has helped to reduce cross-border banditry and violence;
• as of mid-2013, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan provided shelter for more than 600,000 Sudanese refugees;
• during the same period, Sudan, in turn, hosted about 115,000 Eritreans, 32,000 Chadians, and smaller numbers of Ethiopians and Central Africans;
• 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;
• Sudan claims but Egypt de facto administers security and economic development of the Halaib region north of the 22nd parallel boundary;
• periodic violent skirmishes with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic;
• South Sudan-Sudan boundary represents 1 January 1956 alignment, final alignment pending negotiations and demarcation;
• final sovereignty status of Abyei Area pending negotiations between South Sudan and Sudan

refugees (country of origin):

• 109,640 (Eritrea);
• 41,666 (Chad) (2013);
• 85,705 (South Sudan) (2014)

IDPs:

2.818 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region; government and rebel fighting along South Sudan border; inter-tribal clashes) (2014)

current situation:

• Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• Sudanese women and girls, particularly those from rural areas or who are internally displaced, are vulnerable to forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout the country;
• some of these women and girls are subsequently sexually abused by male occupants of the household or forced to engage in commercial sex acts;
• Sudanese women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude in Middle Eastern countries and to forced sex trafficking in European countries;
• some Sudanese men who voluntarily migrate to the Middle East as low-skilled laborers face conditions indicative of forced labor;
• Sudanese children in Saudi Arabia are used in forced begging and street vending;
• Sudan is a transit and destination country for Ethiopian and Eritrean women subjected to domestic servitude in Sudan and Middle Eastern countries;
• Sudan is a destination for Ethiopian, Somali, and possibly Thai women subjected to forced prostitution;
• Sudanese children in Darfur are forcibly conscripted, at times through abduction, and used by armed groups and government security forces

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;
• while the government has taken some initial steps to draft anti-trafficking legislation, prosecute suspected traffickers, demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers, and has convened its first workshop to discuss human trafficking, its efforts to combat human trafficking through law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures are undertaken in an ad hoc fashion, rather than as the result of strategic planning;
• the government has not employed a system for proactively identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations or a referral process for transferring victims to organizations providing care;
• its proxy militias reportedly unlawfully recruited and used child soldiers during the reporting period;
• the government has not taken action to conclude a proposed action plan with the UN to address the problem (2013)