Part 700

Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west lowest point: Red Sea 0 m highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m

Natural resources: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold

Land use: arable land: 5% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 24% forest and woodland: 20% other: 51%

Irrigated land: 18,900 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification natural hazards: dust storms international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling

Geographic note: largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries

People ------

Population: 31,547,543 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 46% (male 7,389,616; female 7,080,044) 15-64 years: 52% (male 8,219,080; female 8,172,544) 65 years and over: 2% (male 387,961; female 298,298) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.48% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 41.08 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 11.46 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 5.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.3 male(s)/female all ages: 1.03 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 76 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 55.12 years male: 54.2 years female: 56.09 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.89 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality: noun: Sudanese (singular and plural) adjective: Sudanese

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

Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)

Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English note: program of Arabization in process

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.) total population: 46.1% male: 57.7% female: 34.6%

Government ----------

Name of country: 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

Data code: SU

Type of government: transitional - previously ruling military junta; presidential and National Assembly elections held in March 1996; new constitution to be drafted by the National Assembly

Capital: Khartoum

Administrative divisions: 9 states (wilayat, singular - wilayat or wilayah*); A'ali an Nil (Upper Nile), Al Wusta*, Al Istiwa'iyah* (Equatoria), Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah*, Ash Sharqiyah*, Bahr al Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan note: on 14 February 1994, the 9 states comprising Sudan were divided into 26 new states; the following spellings have been reported but not approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (Bahr Aljebal, Blue Nile, Bohayrat, East Equatoria, Gedarif, Gezira, Jungle, Kassala, Khartoum, North, North Bahr Alghazal, North Darfur, North Kordofan, Red Sea, River Nile, Sinnar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, Unity, Upper Nile, Warab, West Bahr Alghazal, West Darfur, West Kordofan, West Equatoria, White Nile)