Basic Information
Situation: Between latitudes 4 degrees
and 22 degrees north of the equator and longitudes 22 degrees and 38 degrees
east.
Area: 2.5 million kilometers square; the
equivalent of one million square miles.
Population: 39 million
Faith: Islam, Christianity and Ancient
creeds
Language: Arabic, English and local dialects
System: Presidential Republic
Administrative divisions: 25 States, 15
in the North; 10 in the South.
Natural Resources and Wealth
Arable area: 300 Million feddans liable
to increase to 400 million feddans.
Water resources: rains, rivers and subterranean
water.
Climate: Desert and semi-desert in the
north, Savannah in the centre and Equatorial in the South.
Forests: cover over 40 percent of the
country’s entire area.
Natural pastures: Vast areas of natural
pasture upon which the national herd feeds.
Animal Wealth: 140 million heads of cattle
(cows, camels, sheep, goats and horse species).
Fisheries: abundant fish wealth of which
only 30 percent is tapped.
Petroleum: Self-sufficient and oil-exporting
country.
Mineral resources: A variety of minerals
yet unexploited.
System of Governance
Sudan is a democratic republic governed through a federal Presidential system
where an executive body lead by an elected Head of State who is simultaneously
Head of Government and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces is in charge.
The bicameral National Legislature is composed of the two chambers, the Council
of States and the National Assembly. These chambers constitute the 500-elected
member parliament.
When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed however, the two parties,
the National Congress Party and the Sudan's People Liberation Movement, per
the terms of the Interim National Constitution agreed to adopt a new system
of governance that strove to accommodate the various political parties in Sudan.
This was dubbed the Government of National Unity (GONU). A salient feature
of this arrangement was the co-Vice Presidency at the executive level where
the President of the autonomous Southern region holds the post of vice presidency
at the federal level with a northern counterpart. Most of what was stipulated
in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with regards to the Government of National
Unity expired with the National Elections that took place in April of 2010.