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
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Independence date
1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Religions
Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum), indigenous beliefs 25%
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Languages
Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages note: program of "Arabization" in process
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
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
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.000%
4.060%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1
110
Location
Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Area
1,861,484 km sq
9,826,675 km sq
Coastline
853 km
19,924 km
Climate
tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November)
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
