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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
Population: Census of 1983 set population at 21.6
million people; July 1990 population estimate approximately 25
million. Annual growth rate between 2.8 and 3.1 percent. Half of
population under eighteen years of age. About 20 percent of
population urban, concentrated chiefly in three cities--Khartoum,
Omdurman, and Khartoum North--constituting national capital area.
Languages: About 400 languages, but Arabic primary and
official language. English common second language in south. Other
languages include Bedawiye used by Beja and various dialects of
Niger-Kurdufanian and Nilo-Saharan.
Ethnic Groups: Largest ethnic category in 1983 (nearly
40 percent of total, nearly 55 percent in north) comprises those
considering themselves Arabs, but category internally split by
regional and tribal loyalties and affiliation to various Muslim
politico-religious groups. Major Muslim (but non-Arab) groups are
Nubians in far north, nomadic Beja in northeast, and Fur in west.
Southern non-Muslim groups include Dinka (more than 10 percent of
total population and 40 percent in south), Nuer, and numerous
smaller Nilotic and other ethnic groups.
Religion: More than half of total population Muslim,
most living in north where Muslims constitute 75 percent or more
of population. Relatively few Christians, most living in south.
Most people in south and substantial minority in north adherents
of various indigenous religions.
Education: Six-year primary education increasingly
available, but in early 1990s south and many northern communities
still suffered from shortage of schools and teachers; many
schools in south destroyed by civil war. Small proportion of
primary school graduates continued in three-year junior secondary
and upper secondary schools or attended technical schools. Most
schools in urban locations; many lacked adequately trained
teachers. Universities producing adequate numbers of highly
educated graduates but Sudanese with skills relevant to largely
agricultural economy still in short supply. Estimate of adult
literacy about 30 percent.
Health: By 1991 civil war had destroyed most medical
facilities in south, and famine in 1980s and 1991 had serious
impact on general health. Weak modern medical infrastructure
suffering personnel shortages and urban-rural imbalance; most
personnel and facilities concentrated in capital area. Malaria
and gastrointestinal diseases prevalent through much of country;
tuberculosis widespread in north but also occurs in south;
schistosomiasis (snail fever) more restricted to territory near
White Nile and Blue Nile rivers and adjacent irrigated areas;
sleeping sickness spreading in south; acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS) also increasing.
Data as of June 1991
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