View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1992 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

72 total, 57 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 31 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

18 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

20,000 km total; 1,600 km bituminous treated, 3,700 km gravel, 2,301 km improved earth, 12,399 km unimproved earth and track

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

5,310 km navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 42,277 GRT/59,588 DWT; includes 3 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo

Pipelines [time series]

refined products 815 km

Ports [time series]

Port Sudan, Swakin

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

5,500 km total; 4,784 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter-gauge plantation line

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained by modern standards; consists of microwave, cable, radio communications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; broadcast stations - 11 AM, 3 TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $610 million, 7.2% of GDP (1989 est.)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 6,432,270; 3,949,518 fit for military service; 302,696 reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 35% of GDP and 80% of labor force; water shortages; two-thirds of land area suitable for raising crops and livestock; major products - cotton, oilseeds, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sheep; marginally self-sufficient in most foods

Budget [time series]

revenues $1.3 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $505 million (FY91 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Sudanese pound (plural - pounds); 1 Sudanese pound (#Sd) = 100 piasters

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.5 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $5.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $588 million

Electricity [time series]

610,000 kW capacity; 905 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates [time series]

official rate - Sudanese pounds (#Sd) per US$1 - 90.1 (March 1992), 5.4288 (1991), 4.5004 (fixed rate since 1987), 2.8121 (1987); note - free market rate 83 (December 1991)

Exports [time series]

$325 million (f.o.b., FY91 est.) commodities: cotton 52%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts partners: Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3% (FY88)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$14.6 billion (June 1991 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July - 30 June

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $12.1 billion, per capita $450; real growth rate 0% (FY91 est.)

Imports [time series]

$1.40 billion (c.i.f., FY91 est.) commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles partners: Western Europe 32%, Africa and Asia 15%, US 13%, Eastern Europe 3% (FY88)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate NA%; accounts for 11% of GDP (FY89)

Industries [time series]

cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

95% (FY91 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, high inflation, and counterproductive economic policies. The economy is dominated by governmental entities that account for more than 70% of new investment. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and trading, with most private industrial investment predating 1980. The economy's base is agriculture, which employs 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes agricultural items. Sluggish economic performance over the past decade, attributable largely to declining annual rainfall, has reduced levels of per capita income and consumption. A high foreign debt and huge arrearages continue to cause difficulties. In 1990 the International Monetary Fund took the unusual step of declaring Sudan noncooperative because of its nonpayment of arrearages to the Fund. Despite subsequent government efforts to implement reforms urged by the IMF and the World Bank, the economy remained stagnant in FY91 as entrepreneurs lack the incentive to take economic risks.

Unemployment rate [time series]

15% (FY91 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

853 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

administrative boundary with Kenya does not coincide with international boundary; administrative boundary with Egypt does not coincide with international boundary

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification

Area (Land area) [time series]

2,376,000 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

7,697 km total; Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Ethiopia 2,221 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km, Zaire 628 km

Land use [time series]

arable land 5%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 24%; forest and woodland 20%; other 51%; includes irrigated 1%

Maritime claims [time series]

Contiguous zone: 18 nm Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources [time series]

small reserves of crude oil, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, crude oil

Note [time series]

largest country in Africa

Terrain [time series]

generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west

Area (Total area) [time series]

2,505,810 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

9 states (wilayat, singular - wilayat or wilayah*); A'ali an Nil, Al Wusta*, Al Istiwa'iyah*, Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah*, Ash Sharqiyah*, Bahr al Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan

Capital [time series]

Khartoum

Constitution [time series]

12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador `Abdallah Ahmad `ABDALLAH; Chancery at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 338-8565 through 8570; there is a Sudanese Consulate General in New York US: Ambassador James R. CHEEK (will be replaced summer of 1992); Embassy at Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum (mailing address is P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO AE 09829); telephone 74700 or 74611; Telex 22619

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

none

Executive branch [time series]

executive and legislative authority vested in a 12-member Revolutionary Command Council (RCC); chairman of the RCC acts as prime minister; in July 1989, RCC appointed a predominately civilian 22-member cabinet to function as advisers

Flag [time series]

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

Independence [time series]

1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK; formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State and Head of Government: Revolutionary Command Council Chairman and Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 30 June 1989); Deputy Chairman of the Command Council and Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH Ahmed (since 9 July 1989)

Legal system [time series]

based on English common law and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the six northern states of Al Wusta, Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah, Ash Sharqiyah, Darfur, and Kurdufan; the council is still studying criminal provisions under Islamic law; Islamic law will apply to all residents of the six northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch [time series]

appointed 300-member Transitional National Assembly; note - as announced 1 January 1992 by RCC Chairman BASHIR, the Assembly assumes all legislative authority for Sudan until the eventual, unspecified resumption of national elections

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of the Sudan

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup

Suffrage [time series]

none

Government type (Type) [time series]

military; civilian government suspended and martial law imposed after 30 June 1989 coup

People

Birth rate [time series]

44 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

13 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

83 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

6,500,000; agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 10%, government 6%; labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.); 52% of population of working age (1985)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

53 years male, 54 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

27% (male 43%, female 12%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun - Sudanese (singular and plural); adjective - Sudanese

Net migration rate [time series]

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

trade unions suspended following 30 June 1989 coup; now in process of being legalized anew

Population [time series]

28,305,046 (July 1992), growth rate 3.1% (1992)

Religions [time series]

Sunni Muslim (in north) 70%, indigenous beliefs 20%, Christian (mostly in south and Khartoum) 5%

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.3 children born/woman (1992)