Economic Overview
Sudan's economy is booming on the back of increases in oil production, high oil prices, and large inflows of foreign direct investment. gdp growth registered more than 10% per year in 2006 and 2007. from 1997 to date, sudan has been working with the imf to implement macroeconomic reforms, including a managed float of the exchange rate. sudan began exporting crude oil in the last quarter of 1999. agricultural production remains important, because it employs 80% of the work force and contributes a third of gdp. the darfur conflict, the aftermath of two decades of civil war in the south, the lack of basic infrastructure in large areas, and a reliance by much of the population on subsistence agriculture ensure much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years despite rapid rises in average per capita income. in january 2007, the government introduced a new currency, the sudanese pound, at an initial exchange rate of $1.00 equals 2 sudanese pounds.
Environmental Issues
Inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; periodic drought
Government Type
Government of national unity (gnu) - the national congress party (ncp) and sudan people's liberation movement (splm) formed a power-sharing government under the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement (cpa); the ncp, which came to power by military coup in 1989, is the majority partner; the agreement stipulates national elections in 2009
Population
40,218,456 (july 2008 est.)
Location
Northern africa, bordering the red sea, between egypt and eritrea
Area
Total: 2,505,810 sq km
land: 2.376 million sq km
water: 129,810 sq km
Slightly more than one-quarter the size of the us
Country Aliases
Conventional long form: republic of the sudan
conventional short form: sudan
local long form: jumhuriyat as-sudan
local short form: as-sudan
former: anglo-egyptian sudan
Capital
Name: khartoum
geographic coordinates: 15 36 n, 32 32 e
time difference: utc+3 (8 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time)
Military Service
18-30 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year service obligation (2006)
International Disputes
The effects of sudan's almost constant ethnic and rebel militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of the neighboring states; as of 2006, chad, ethiopia, kenya, central african republic, democratic republic of the congo, and uganda provided shelter for over half a million sudanese refugees, which includes 240,000 darfur residents driven from their homes by janjawid armed militia and the sudanese military forces; sudan, in turn, hosted about 116,000 eritreans, 20,000 chadians, and smaller numbers of ethiopians, ugandans, central africans, and congolese as refugees; in february 2006, sudan and droc signed an agreement to repatriate 13,300 sudanese and 6,800 congolese; 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; the boundary that separates kenya and sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "ilemi triangle," which kenya has administered since colonial times; while sudan claims to administer the hala'ib triangle north of the 1899 treaty boundary along the 22nd parallel; both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s, and egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area; periodic violent skirmishes with sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the central african republic
Sources: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
