52 Facts About Sudan

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa.

It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea.

Sudan means "land of the blacks" in Arabic. It comes from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān.

The Republic of Sudan became an independent state on July 9, 2011.

Sudan was once the largest and the most geographically diverse state in South Africa. However, it was split into two countries in July 2011. It is now Africa's third largest country (after Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

In Sudan, two political parties had emerged by 1945. The National Unionist Party was one, and the Umma Party was another.

Sudan gained independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom on January 1, 1956.

The Nile's two tributaries are the White Nile and the Blue Nile. These two tributaries merge at Khartoum—the capital of Sudan—becoming the Nile River proper before flowing into Egypt. The Bahr el Ghazal, Sobat, and Atbarah rivers are its other major tributaries.

The Nile River flows through Sudan from north to south.

Darfur's war began in February 2003, killing an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 people and displacing nearly two million others.

Many refugees fled to Sudan from neighbouring countries such as Chad and Ethiopia.

Sudan's national day is January 1st.

Deriba Caldera, located in Darfur in western Sudan, is the highest point in Sudan at 3,042 metres.

Sudan's lowest point is the Red Sea (also known as the Erythraean Sea).

The metric system is the legal standard, but for weights and measures, a highly diverse system based on Egyptian and British standards is in use.

Every year, twelve hundred people dive in Sudan's Red Sea.

Sudan has a diverse multilingual population, with 114 native languages and over 500 accents.

According to the CIA, the overall literacy rate in Sudan is 60.7%. (2018 est.).

Sudan's size was reduced by 25% following the formation of South Sudan.

In 2022, 30.9% of Sudan's population will be online.

There is one doctor for every 10,000 people in Sudan.

The vast majority of children die before the age of five.

Adult employment in Sudan is 47.3 percent, according to nationmaster.com.

According to the 2008 World Refugee Survey, Sudan had 310,500 refugees and asylum seekers in 2007.

According to Slate.com, there are more pyramids in one small section of the northern Sudanese desert than there are in all of Egypt.

Sudan has approximately 50,000 deaf people.

Sudan is a net food importer.

Sudan's border length is 6,751 kilometres.

Sudan's primary natural resource is petroleum.

South Sudan has lost an estimated 5-7 billion barrels of oil reserves as a result of its separation from the north.

Sudan has 18,630 square kilometres of irrigated land.

The ox-powered water wheel is an important part of Sudan's economy. The wheel, which was first introduced in Sudan around four centuries before Christ, is still in use in the country.

The country also has significant deposits of chromium ore, copper, iron ore, mica, silver, gold, tungsten, and zinc.

Sudan is plagued by periodic droughts, desertification, soil erosion, declining wildlife, and a scarcity of potable water.

Sudan's soil is classified into three types: sandy soils in the north and west central areas, clay soils in the centre, and laterite soils in the south.

In Central Sudan (May through July), a haboob, a type of intense dust storm, can occur, reducing visibility to zero.

The domestic processing of crude petroleum began in late 1964, with the opening of the Port Sudan oil refinery.

Sudan's top export partners are the United Arab Emirates, China, and Canada, while its top import partners are China, India, and Saudi Arabia.

Precious stones and metals are the most commonly exported items, while industrial machinery is the most commonly imported item category.

The country experienced its first civil war from 1955 to 1972, and its second civil war from 1983 to 2005.

After 17 years, the first civil war ended in 1972. The signing of the Addis Ababa Agreement by the two parties marked the end of the process.

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 brought the second civil war to an end.

Sudan's second civil war resulted in the deaths of two and a half million people.

Sudan's conflict is caused by more than just religious differences. The conflict is also exacerbated by a scarcity of limited natural resources such as water and pastureland needed to sustain life. Another source of contention is the conflict's oil reserves. South Sudan has an abundance of oil reserves, while North Sudan, or the Republic of Sudan, has the machinery to process it.

Sudan is the world's sixteenth largest country in terms of land area.

The United States launched cruise missiles on August 20, 1998, destroying a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Khartoum. The company was accused of producing chemical weapons with the help of Osama bin Laden.

In September 2004, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell declared the Darfur conflict to be genocide and the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century.

Sudan is known as the Arab World's Food Basket because it accounts for 45% of the Arab World's arable land.

Priests and high-ranking officials in Sudan were frequently buried with a small pyramid atop their grave.

Sudan is home to Africa's and the Middle East's first female parliamentarian (1965), as well as the region's first female Minister of Health (1974).

Sudan was responsible for the Middle East's first female judge, cinematographer, football referee, army personnel, and police officers.

Recent excavations at Meroe and Mussawwarat es-Sufra revealed temples with gold-leafed walls and statues.