Discovery Series VIII: Inside the Republic of the Sudan

Country Name: The Republic of the Sudan
                               The name comes from an Arabic term bilad al-sudan which translated means “land of the Blacks.”

Capital City: Khartoum

Geographic Location: Northern Africa Bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea.  
                                          The Nile River flows the entire length of the country.

Area: 967,498 square miles. (Slightly more than ¼ the size of the United States)

Coastline: 530 miles

Climate: Tropical in the South; arid desert in the North

Natural Resources: Petroleum, small reserves of iron ore, coppers, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold

Population: 38,114,160

Ethnic Groups: Black 52%, Arab 39% Beja 6%, Foreign 2%, Other 1%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (mainly in the northern region) Indigenous tribal beliefs 25%
                    Christian 5% (mostly in the south and Khartoum )

Languages: Arabic is the official language.  
                        There are hundreds of other languages and dialects spoken such as Ta Bedawie and 
                         Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic. English is also spoken in some areas.

Currency: Dinar

GDP: $52.9 billion

GDP Per Capita: $1,400

Industries: Oil, cotton, textiles, cement, sugar, soap, distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile and light truck assembly.

Agricultural products: Cotton, peanuts, wheat, Arabic gum, sugarcane, cassava, mangoes, papayas, bananas, sweet potatoes.

Exports: $1.8 billion

Imports: $1.5 billion

Source: World Factbook, Bank of Sudan

THE SUDAN: HISTORY

From the end of the 4th millennium BC, Nubia (now northern Sudan) periodically came under Egyptian rule, and it was part of the kingdom of Cush from the 11th century BC to the 4th century AD. Christian missionaries converted the Sudan 's three principal kingdoms during the 6th century AD; these black Christian kingdoms coexisted with their Muslim Arab neighbors in Egypt for centuries, until the influx of Arab immigrants brought about their collapse in the 13th-15th century.

Egypt had conquered all of the Sudan by 1874, and encouraged British interference in the region; this aroused Muslim opposition and led to the revolt of al-Mahdi, who captured Khartoum in 1885 and established a Muslim theocracy in the Sudan that lasted until 1898, when his forces were defeated by the British. The British ruled the country, generally in partnership with Egypt , until the Sudan achieved independence in 1956.

IN THE NEWS: DARFUR

Located in western Sudan.

It was an independent kingdom from c. 2500 BC. There was a brief period in which Christianity flourished in Darfur.  This lasted c. 900-1200, and was ended by the advance of Islam.  In the 1870s Darfur came under Egyptian rule, and in 1916 it became a province of Sudan.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica 

References and Resources on the Web:

Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC : www.sudanembassy.org

Sudanese Embassy in South Africa : www.sudani.co.za  

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