1) Natural geography

Location
North-eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea

Geographic coordinates
15 00 N, 30 00 E

Map references
Africa

Area
total
1,861,484 sq km
country comparison to the world
16
land
NA
water
NA

Area - comparative
slightly less than one-fifth the size of the US

Land boundaries
total
6,751 km
border countries
Central African Republic 175 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt 1,275 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 769 km, Libya 383 km, South Sudan 2,184 km
note; Sudan-South Sudan boundary represents 1 January 1956 alignment; final alignment pending negotiations and demarcation; final sovereignty status of Abyei region pending negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan

Coastline
853 km

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

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

Terrain
generally flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north

Elevation extremes
lowest point; Red Sea 0 m
highest point; Jabal Marrah 3,071 m

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

Land use
arable land; NA
permanent crops; NA
other: NA (2005)

Irrigated land
18,630 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources
154 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
total
37.32 cu km/yr (3%/1%/97%)
per capita
1,030 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards
dust storms and periodic persistent droughts

Environment

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

Environment - international agreements
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

Geography - note
Dominated by the Nile and its tributaries


2) Human geography

Nationality
Noun
Sudanese (singular and plural)
adjective
Sudanese

Ethnic groups
Sudanese Arab (approximately 70%), Fur, Beja, Nuba, Fallata

Languages
Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur
note
program of "Arabization" in process

Population
34,206,710
country comparison to the world
36
note
includes the population of South Sudan (8,260,490); demographic data includes South Sudan (July 2012 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years; 42% (7,305,175 male/ female 7,056,966)
15-64 years; 54.7% (9,351,327 male/ female 9,360,358)
65 years and over; 3.3% (627,014 male/ female 505,870) (2012 est.)

Median age
total; 18.7 years
male; 18.5 years
female; 19 years (2012 est.)

Population growth rate
1.884% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world
60

Birth rate
31.7 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world
39

Death rate
8.33 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world
 90

Net migration rate
-4.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world
190

Urbanization
Urban population
40% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization
3.7% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population
KHARTOUM (capital) 5.021 million (2009)

Sex ratio
at birth; 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years; 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years; 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over; 1.24 male(s)/female
total population; 1.02 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Maternal mortality rate
730 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
country comparison to the world: 8

Infant mortality rate
total
55.63 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world
36
male
61.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female
49.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population
 62.57 years
country comparison to the world
 183
male
60.58 years
female
64.67 years (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate
4.17 children born/woman (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world
 37

Children under the age of 5 years underweight
31.7% (2006)
country comparison to the world
15

Education expenditure
NA

Literacy
definition; age 15 and over can read and write
total population; 61.1%
male; 71.8%
female; 50.5% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 4 years (2000)

Immigration

Disputes - international
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 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for over a half million Sudanese refugees, which include 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by Janjawid armed militia and Sudanese military forces; as of January 2011, Sudan, in turn, hosted about 138,700 Eritreans, 43,000 Chadians, and smaller numbers of Ethiopians; 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 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 and internally displaced persons
refugees (country of origin)
103,798 (Eritrea); 39,578 (Chad); 5,600 (Ethiopia)
IDPs
more than 2.1 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region; government and rebel fighting along South Sudan border) (2012)

Trafficking in persons
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, such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, 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 transit Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia, where they are used in forced begging and street vending, and reportedly work in exploitative labor situations for Sudanese traders in the Central African Republic; 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.
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 took some steps to identify, demobilize, and reintegrate child soldiers during the reporting period, combating human trafficking through law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures was not a priority (2008).