| AREA: 2,505,813 sq km (967,500 sq
miles).
POPULATION: 28,947,000 (official estimate 1994).
POPULATION DENSITY: 11.5 per sq km.
CAPITAL: Khartoum. Population: 924,505
(1993).
GEOGRAPHY: Sudan is bordered by Egypt to the
north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Ethiopia and Eritrea
to the east, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo to the south, the Central African Republic and
Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. There is a
marked difference between the climate, culture and
geography of northern and southern Sudan. The far north
consists of the contiguous Libyan and Nubian Deserts which
extend as far south as the capital, Khartoum, and are
barren except for small areas beside the Nile River and a
few scattered oases. This gives way to the central steppes
which cover the country between 15°N and 10°N, a region
of short, coarse grass and bushes, turning to open
savannah towards the south, largely flat to the east but
rising to two large plateaux in the west and south, the
Janub Darfur (3088m/10,131ft) and Janub Kordofan
(500m/1640ft) respectively. Most of Sudan's agriculture
occurs in these latitudes in a fertile pocket between the
Blue and White Niles which meet at Khartoum. South of the
steppes is a vast shallow basin traversed by the White
Nile and its tributaries, with the Sudd, a 120,000 sq km
(46,332 sq miles) marshland, in the centre. This gives way
to equatorial forest towards the south, rising to
jungle-clad mountains on the Ugandan border, the highest
being Mount Kinyeti, at 3187m (10,456ft).
LANGUAGE: Arabic is the official language.
English and many local dialects are widely spoken.
RELIGION: Muslim in the north; Christian and
traditional Animist religions in the south.
TIME: GMT + 2.
ELECTRICITY: 240 volts AC, 50Hz.
COMMUNICATIONS: Telephone: IDD is
available. Country code: 249. Outgoing international calls
must go through the operator. Telegram: The Central
Telegraph Office is open at Khartoum (Gamma Avenue) 24
hours a day including holidays. Post: Post offices
are open 0830-1200 and 1730-1830 Saturday to Thursday.
Airmail to Europe takes up to a week. Press: The
main dailies are As-Sudan al-Hadeeth, Al Raai al-Akhar and
Anbaa al-Youm. There are English-language magazines
entitled New Horizons and Sudan Now. |
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