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.

Government

Presidency

Presidential Advisors

Federal Ministers