Sudan: COUNTRY PROFILE

COUNTRY PROFILE: SUDAN

December 2004

COUNTRY

Formal Name: Republic of the Sudan (Jumhuriyat as-Sudan).

Short Form: Sudan.

Term for Citizen(s): Sudanese.

Capital: Khartoum.

Other Major Cities: Omdurman, Khartoum North, Port

Sudan, Kassala, Al Ubayyid, and Nyala (according to decreasing

size, 1993 census).

Independence: Sudan gained independence from the United Kingdom and Egypt on January 1, 1956.

Public Holidays: Sudan observes the following public holidays: Independence Day (January 1, 2004), Feast of the Sacrifice/Id al-Adha (February 1, 2004*), Islamic New Year (February 22, 2004*), Uprising Day, anniversary of 1985 coup (April 6, 2004), Coptic Easter Monday/Sham an-Nassim (April 12, 2004*), Birth of the Prophet/Mouloud (May 2, 2004*), Revolution Day (June 30, 2004), end of Ramadan/Id al-Fitr (November 14, 2004*), and Christmas (December 25, 2004). The asterisk indicates holidays with variable dates according to the Islamic or Coptic calendar.

Flag:

Sudan’s flag has three horizontal bands of red (top), white, and

black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side.

RECENT NEWS ARTICLES

Uganda: LRA Killings Create Mistrust Between Uganda And Sudan  -  24 Oct 2006
AllAfrica.com,BARBARA AMONG reports Misgivings are growing in Ugandan government circles over the manner in which the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), which is mediating ...

Rift between UN, Sudan deepens with envoy's expulsion  -  24 Oct 2006
Victoria Times Colonist,Pronk's expulsion deepens the rift between President Umar al-Bashir's government and the international community over demands that Sudan allow UN peacekeepers ...

Sudan Expels UN Representative  -  24 Oct 2006
Prensa Latina,Khartoum, Oct 23 (Prensa Latina) Sudan s official notice to UN special Representative Jan Pronk (Holland) on Sunday, giving him 72 hours to leave the country ...

State lawmakers seek to punish Sudan  -  24 Oct 2006
Durango Herald,DENVER - Colorado should divest its stock in companies that do business with Sudan as a protest against the genocide in Darfur, a group of students and state ...

'Lost Boys of Sudan' screening Nov. 3 in GR  -  24 Oct 2006
Grand Haven Tribune,GRAND RAPIDS — Grand Rapids Community College will hold a free screening of the documentary "Lost Boys of Sudan" on Friday, Nov. ...

Challenges Facing Southern Sudanese Returnees  -  24 Oct 2006
OhmyNews International,2006 signing of a historic tripartite agreement between the governments of Kenya and Sudan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for ...

SECRETARY-GENERAL REVIEWING SUDAN’S REQUEST TO WITHDRAW SPECIAL ...  -  24 Oct 2006
PressZoom (press release),The Secretary-General received this morning a letter from the Government of Sudan requesting him to withdraw his Special Representative, Jan Pronk, from the ...

South Sudan wants own country communication Code  -  24 Oct 2006
Sudan Tribune,Oct 20, 2006 (KAMPALA) — Southern Sudan is mobilising support to get its own international gateway and communication code. Barnabas ...

sudan: Plan announced to disarm feared Darfur militia  -  24 Oct 2006
Monday Morning,Sudan announced a plan to disarm Darfur’s feared Janjaweed militia, as a human rights report released last week charged that the enormous death toll in the ...

Condoleezza Rice On Expulsion Of UN Sudan Envoy  -  24 Oct 2006
Scoop.co.nz (press release),SECRETARY RICE: I'm going to talk to Kofi Annan about this later today. The situation in Darfur has been deteriorating and the international ...

Canada should lead in Darfur`Responsibility to protect' more than ...  -  24 Oct 2006
Toronto Star,...situations have worsened. The government of Sudan has launched a new military offensive against the rebel holdouts. Meanwhile, government ...

Call for expression of interest, Southern Sudan  -  24 Oct 2006
ReliefWeb (press release),HelpAge International established a presence in Sudan in 1984 in response to the emergency situation caused by a series of famines in the Horn of Africa and ...

UN Sudan envoy retains status  -  24 Oct 2006
The Australian,JAN Pronk remains the United Nations' special envoy to Sudan with the full support of UN chief Kofi Annan despite being the target of an expulsion order from ...

Zimbabwe Rights Groups Plan To Press AU's Konare At Upcoming ...  -  24 Oct 2006
Voice of AmericaKonare met with President Robert Mugabe on October 13 and responded to requests for a meeting that his visit concerned African conflicts in Sudan and elsewhere ...

Peace Talks Resume; LRA Requests For All Rebels to Assemble in Ri ...  -  24 Oct 2006
Uganda Conflict Action Network,The LRA has said it wants all its troops to assemble in Ri-Kwangba in Western Equatorial State, one of the two assembly points in southern Sudan. ...

Country Overview: Sudan  -  Oct 22, 2006
AND,Sudan has an estimated population of 38 million, a land mass of 2.376 million sq km and shares borders with 9 countries (Egypt, Libya, Chad, Central African ...

US envoy says he has come to Sudan with open heart  -  Oct 23, 2006
AND,The Advisor of the President of the Republic, Dr Ghazi Salah Al-din, on Thursday said that the American Envoy to the Sudan, Andrew Natsios, has pointed out ...

Genocide in Sudan  -  Oct 22, 2006
ProgressiveU.org,Every week, 8000 innocents are killed in the Darfur region of Sudan. ... Currently, only 6,700 African Union (AU) troops are deployed in Sudan. ...

Sudan dictatorial shift and Prok’s expulsion  -  Oct 22, 2006
Sudan Tribune,In this context, the expulsion of the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, after a press release by the Sudanese army against him, comes as ...

AU welcomes signing of Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement  -  Oct 23, 2006
AND,The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission welcomes the signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA), which is signed between the Government ...

Sudan lifts emergency state in east after deal  -  Oct 22, 2006
Reuters AlertNet,KHARTOUM, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Sudan has lifted the state of emergency in its eastern region and released prisoners following a peace deal signed last week ...

Pressure builds on businesses tied to Sudan  -  Oct 21, 2006
MarketWatchSAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Companies doing business in Sudan are coming under increasing pressure from the United States, as the international community ...

News Roundup  -  Oct 22, 2006
Monsters and Critics.com,KHARTOUM, Sudan, Oct. ... So far, however, the Sudan government refuses to allow an international peacekeeping force into Darfur. NEW BRIGHTON, Pa., Oct. ...

Forum: Help keep Sudan on right path  -  Oct 21, 2006
Washington Times,Earlier this month, I concluded my tenure as chief of mission at the Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan to the United States. ...



This series of profiles of foreign nations is part of the Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program. The profiles offer brief, summarized information on a country’s historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. In addition to being featured in the front matter of published Country Studies, they are now being prepared as stand-alone reference aides for all countries in the series, as well as for a number of additional countries of interest. The profiles offer reasonably current country information independent of the existence of a recently published Country Study and will be updated annually or more frequently as events warrant.