The World Factbook (1982)/Sudan

by the Central Intelligence Agency

SUDAN

(See reference map VII)

LAND

2,504,530 km²; 37% arable (3% cultivated), 15% grazing, 33% desert, waste, or urban, 15% forest

Land boundaries: 7,805 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone")

Coastline: 853 km

PEOPLE

Population: 19,868,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.8%

Nationality: noun—Sudanese (sing. and pl.); adjective—Sudanese

Ethnic divisions: 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 52% Negro, 2% foreigners, 1% other

Religion: 73% Sunni Muslims in north, 23% pagan, 4% Christian (mostly in south)

Language: Arabic, Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process

Literacy: 20%

Labor force: 8.6 million (1979); roughly 78% agriculture, 10% industry, 12% services; labor shortages for almost all categories of employment coexist with urban unemployment

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Democratic Republic of the Sudan

Type: republic under military control since coup in May 1969

Capital: Khartoum

Political subdivisions: 5 regions; regional governments were recently granted additional authority

Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; some separate religious courts; permanent constitution promulgated April 1973; legal education at University of Khartoum and Khartoum extension of Cairo University at Khartoum; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January

Branches: President and Cabinet; 151-member People's Assembly; five new regional assemblies inaugurated in June 1981 for northern Sudan; plans for the division of southern Sudan are under consideration

Government leader: President Gen. Gaafar Mohamed NIMEIRI

Suffrage: universal adult

Elections: elections for National People's Assembly held in December 1981-January 1982; most recent presidential election held April 1977 with Nimeiri as sole candidate

Political parties and leaders: all parliamentary political parties outlawed since May 1969; the ban on the Sudan Communist Party was not enforced until after abortive coup in July 1971; the government's mass political organization, the Sudan Socialist Union, was formed in January 1972

Other political or pressure groups: Muslim Brotherhood, formerly at odds with, the, military regime, now participates actively in government; Ansar Muslim sect and National Unionist Party do not participate directly in government

Member of: AFDB, APC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

ECONOMY

GDP: $5.6 billion at current prices (1979), $270 per capita at current prices

Agriculture: main crops—sorghum, millet, wheat, sesame, peanuts, beans, barley; not self-sufficient in food production; main cash crops—cotton, gum arabic, peanuts, sesame

Major industries: cotton ginning, textiles, brewery, cement, edible oils, soap, distilling, shoes, pharmaceuticals

Electric power: 310,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.2 billion kWh produced (1980), 65 kWh per capita

Exports: $594.0 million (f.o.b., FY80); cotton (56%), gum arabic, peanuts, sesame; $187.3 million exports to Communist countries (FY79)

Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY80); textiles, petroleum products, vehicles, tea, wheat

Major trade partners: UK, West Germany, Italy, India, China, France, Japan

Budget: (FY80) public revenue $2.0 billion, total expenditures $2.7 billion, including development expenditure of $660.0 million

Monetary conversion rate: 1 Sudanese pound=US$2.00 (official); 0.5 Sudanese pound=US$1

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter gauge plantation line

Highways: 20,000 km total; 1,576 km bituminous treated, 3,652 km gravel, 2,304 km improved earth; remainder unimproved earth and track

Inland waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Pipelines: refined products, 815 km

Ports: 1 major (Port Sudan)

Civil air: 17 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in

Airfields: 80 total, 79 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 33 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: large system by African standards, but barely adequate; consists of radio relay, cables, radio communications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; 63,400 telephones (0.3 per 100 popl.); 5 AM, no FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 4,544,000; 2,778,000 fit for military service; 209,000 reach military age (18) annually