Sudan: Background & Geography

Introduction Sudan
Background:
 Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years of this period (1972-82). The wars are rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. Since 1983, the war and war- and famine-related effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced. The ruling regime is a mixture of military elite and an Islamist party that came to power in a 1989 coup. Some northern opposition parties have made common cause with the southern rebels and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-03 with the signing of several accords, including a cease-fire agreement.
Geography Sudan
Location:
 Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
Geographic coordinates:
 15 00 N, 30 00 E
Map references:
 Africa
Area:
 total: 2,505,810 sq km
water: 129,810 sq km
land: 2.376 million 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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 territorial sea: 12 NM
contiguous zone: 18 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate:
 tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November)
Terrain:
 generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in far south, northeast and west; desert dominates the north
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, hydropower
Land use:
 arable land: 7.03%
permanent crops: 0.08%
other: 92.89% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 19,500 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 dust storms and periodic persistent droughts
Environment - current issues:
 inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; periodic drought
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
 largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries

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