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
constitutional democracy
Independence date
1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)
25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands)
Religions
Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum), indigenous beliefs 25%
Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5%
Languages
Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages note: program of "Arabization" in process
Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese
alumina, gold, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas
External Debt
$38,580,000,000 $
$504,300,000 US
Exchange Rate
Sudanese pounds (SDG) per US dollar - 2.1 (2008 est.), 2.06 (2007), 2.172 (2006), 2.4361 (2005), 2.5791 (2004) note: in October 2007 Sudan redenominated its currency by transforming 100 units of Sudanese dinar into one unit of Sudanese pound
Surinamese dollars (SRD) per US dollar - 2.745 (2007), 2.745 (2006), 2.7317 (2005), 2.7336 (2004), 2.6013 (2003) note: in January 2004, the government replaced the guilder with the Surinamese dollar, tied to a US dollar-dominated currency basket
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.000%
0.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1
0
Location
Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana
Area
1,861,484 km sq
163,820 km sq
Coastline
853 km
386 km
Climate
tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November)
