Part 779

Area: total: 2,505,810 sq km land: 2.376 million sq km water : 129,810 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US

Land boundaries: total : 7,687 km border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone : 18 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west

Elevation extremes: 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% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 19% other: 30% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 19,460 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: dust storms

Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

@Sudan:People

Population: 32,594,128 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 46% (male 7,584,401; female 7,271,175) 15-64 years: 52% (male 8,536,476; female 8,492,043) 65 years and over : 2% (male 398,591; female 311,442) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.06% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 40.54 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 11.16 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.28 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 74.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 55.54 years male: 54.6 years female: 56.53 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.79 children born/woman (1997 est.)

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

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