I.

Introduction

Sudan (country), officially Republic of Sudan, republic in north-eastern Africa, the largest country of the African continent. It is bordered on the north by Egypt; on the east by the Red Sea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia; on the south by Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and on the west by the Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. Sudan has a total area of 2,505,800 sq km (967,490 sq mi). Khartoum is the capital and largest city.

II.

Land and Resources

Sudan has a maximum length from north to south of more than 2,250 km (1,400 mi); the extreme width of the country is about 1,730 km (1,075 mi). It is divided into three separate natural regions. Desert in the north, covering about 30 per cent of the country, gives way to a vast semi-arid Sahelian region of steppes and low mountains in central Sudan. In the south is a region of vast swamps (the Sudd region) and rainforest.

Most of Sudan comprises a flat, featureless plain. The Libyan Desert, a barren waste broken by rugged uplands, covers most of Sudan north-west of the Nile proper. The Nubian Desert lies in the region east of the Nile proper and the Atbara. The few uplands include the Red Sea Hills along the coast and the Nuba Mountains in the west-central area. Jebel Marra, an isolated extinct volcanic cone in the far west, is the highest point (3,500 m/11,500 ft). Kinyeti in the south, near the Ugandan border, is 3,187 m (10,456 ft) high.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

Major topographical features of Sudan are the River Nile, its headstreams the White Nile and Blue Nile (which meet at Khartoum), and the tributaries of these rivers. The White Nile crosses the country from the Ugandan border to its confluence with the Blue Nile, to form the Nile proper. The Blue Nile, the most important of the two headwaters in terms of the volume of water carried as well as the area of irrigated land watered, rises in the Ethiopian Plateau and flows across east-central Sudan. Of the Nile tributaries the most important is the Atbara, which also rises in the Ethiopian Plateau.

B.

Climate

Sudan has a continental tropical climate; only the Red Sea coast is affected by maritime influences. Seasonal variations are most sharply defined in the desert zones, where winter temperatures as low as 4.4° C (40° F) are common, particularly after sunset. Summer temperatures often exceed 43.3° C (110° F) in the desert zones, and rainfall is negligible. Dust storms, called haboobs, frequently occur in the hot summer months before the rains. High temperatures also prevail to the south throughout the central plains region, but the humidity is generally low, except along the Red Sea coast.

In the vicinity of Khartoum, the average annual temperature is about 26.7° C (80° F); annual rainfall, most of which occurs between July and September, is about 254 mm (10 in). Equatorial climatic conditions prevail in southern Sudan. In this region the average annual temperature is about 29.4° C (85° F), annual rainfall is more than 1,015 mm (40 in), and the humidity is excessive. Droughts and poor harvests are common outside the south and, as in the early 1980s, can lead to famine.

C.

Natural Resources

The primary natural resources of Sudan are water, supplied by the Nile system, and relatively fertile soils. However, problems in obtaining adequate supplies of drinkable water persist, as does desertification and soil erosion. Large areas of cultivable land are situated in the region between the Blue Nile and the Atbara in the east, and in the area between the Blue and White Niles, known as the Gezira (Arabic, “island”), in the centre of Sudan. Other cultivable land is found in the narrow Nile valley above Khartoum and in the valleys of the plains region. Irrigation is extensively employed; the Gezira, focus of the cotton crop, is the largest irrigated area under single management in the world, covering more than 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres). The country also has vast areas of grasslands and forests, including acacia forests in the Sahelian region, the source of gum arabic, which has been traded for more than 2,000 years.

Small deposits of minerals occur, the most important of which are chrome ore, copper, and iron ore. Petroleum was discovered in south-western Sudan in the early 1980s after nearly ten years of exploration by international oil companies.

D.

Plants and Animals

Vegetation is sparse in the desert zones of Sudan. Various species of acacia occur in the regions contiguous to the Nile Valley. Large forested areas are found in central Sudan, especially in the river valleys, although fuel-wood cutting and grazing has reduced their size considerably. Among the most common trees are the hashab, talh, heglig (Balanites Aegyptiaca), and several species of acacia, including sunt, laot, and kittr. Such trees as ebony, silag, and baobab are common in the Blue Nile valley. Ebony, mahogany, and other varieties of hardwood trees are found in the White Nile basin. Other species of indigenous vegetation include cotton, papyrus, castor-oil plants, and rubber plants.

Animal life is abundant in the plains and equatorial regions of Sudan. Elephants were once numerous in the southern forests but have been virtually exterminated in the civil war. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses abound in the rivers. Other large animals include giraffes and leopards. Baboons and monkeys, various indigenous species of tropical birds, and poisonous reptiles are also found; many migrant bird species are also seen, as the Nile is a major stopping point for birds migrating to southern Africa for the winter. Insects include seroot flies and tsetse flies, which infest the equatorial belt; mosquitoes are found over most of the country making malaria endemic.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Scarce resources, drought, and civil war have led to widespread famine and environmental destruction in Sudan since the 1990s. Only 73 per cent (1990-1998 estimate) of the population has access to a safe supply of fresh water.

Sudan suffers periodic famine due to poverty and drought. The long-running civil war exacerbated the shortage of food. Fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians who relied on subsistence farming, preventing them from planting crops or tending livestock. Traditional fuels such as wood provide 76.5 (1996) per cent of Sudan's energy supply, and the demand for charcoal has led to the clearing of many Sudanese forests. Deforestation, overgrazing, and poor land management practices all speed the process of desertification, as the Sahara encroaches on to previously arable and forested land.

It has been estimated that there are more than 1 million land mines buried in Sudan, although Sudanese officials believe there may be as many as 3 million. Some were laid as a part of the desert warfare of World War II, while other mines were deployed during the country's more recent civil conflicts. Sudan has designated 3.6 per cent (1997) of its land as protected areas, although poaching threatens animal populations throughout the country.

Sudan has ratified international agreements protecting biodiversity, endangered species, and the ozone layer, and the country has signed treaties limiting nuclear testing and whaling. The country is party to the World Heritage Convention and the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Sudan also participates in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program.

III.

Population

The population of northern Sudan is composed principally of peoples of Nubian and of mixed African and Arab descent, divided into numerous tribes, speaking different languages, but united in a predominantly Muslim culture. Nilotic peoples predominate in the south. Other ethnic groups in northern Sudan include the Beja, Jamala, and Nuba peoples. The major Nilotic groups in southern Sudan are the Dinka, Nuer, and Shilluk; Azande are found in the south-east. In 2005 about 59 per cent of the population was rural.

A.

Population Characteristics

Sudan has a population (2007 estimate) of 42,292,929, giving the country an average population density of about 18 people per sq km (46 per sq mi). The most densely settled areas are around Khartoum and in central Sudan, around the White and Blue Niles. Civil war, unrest, and famine have profoundly disturbed traditional patterns of ethnic distribution and of settlement, mainly as a result of attempts to spread Islamic influence. The mainly African population of the south has been almost totally displaced, many thousands have died, and hundreds of thousands more are living as refugees, either in neighbouring countries, or in camps around the northern towns. Inter-ethnic fighting and military activity has disrupted the lives of the nearly 11 per cent of the population practising a nomadic lifestyle.

B.

Political Divisions

Under a reorganization plan adopted in 1991, a federal system of nine states was set up, replacing the six previous administrative regions. The states are headed by a governor assisted by a Cabinet. The states are divided into 66 provinces and 218 districts. In 1994 the country was redivided into 26 states, with increased legislative and executive powers.

C.

Principal Cities

The principal city and commercial centre is Khartoum, the capital. It has a population (2000 estimate) of 2,731,000, which forms a conurbation (grouped round the confluence of the Nile) with the pre-colonial capital of Omdurman (population, 1993, 1,267,077) and the industrial centre of Khartoum North 1983, 341,146). Other important towns are Port Sudan (1993, 305,385), the country’s main port on the Red Sea; Wâd Medanî (1993, 218,714), the centre of the Gezira; Al Ubayyiḑ (1993, 228,096), the main town of western Sudan; and Kassalā (1993, 234,270), the focus of eastern Sudan’s Beja peoples.

D.

Religion

About 74 per cent of the people of Sudan are Muslims, about 17 per cent follow traditional religions, and most of the remainder are Christian. The people of northern Sudan are predominantly Sunni Muslims, practising a form of Islam that has been influenced by traditional, pre-Islamic religions; characteristics of Sudanese Islam include veneration of a great number of local “saints”, and, until the late 1980s, a great tolerance of other faiths. Most of the people in the south either practise traditional religions or are Christian.

These religious and cultural differences have been inextricably tied up in ancient tensions between the two regions, based in northern domination of the south, and have often come to symbolize them. Sudan’s civil war was fuelled by these divisions.

E.

Language

There are 134 languages spoken in Sudan, mainly African languages from the Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo language families. The official language is Standard Arabic: although this is not a mother tongue, it is taught in schools though is not well known in the south. Sudanese Spoken Arabic is much more widely used (by at least 15 million mother-tongue speakers alone) and is unintelligible with Standard Arabic. Sudanese Creole Arabic is also spoken by some people, more often as a second language. Some of the important Nilo-Saharan languages are: Nuer (740,000), Fur (500,000), South-Western Dinka (450,000), North-Eastern Dinka (320,000), Nobin (295,000), and Central Kanuri (195,000). Widely spoken Niger-Congo languages include: Zande (350,000), Katcha-Kadugli-Miri (74,935), Koalib (44,258), Laro (40,000), and Tira (40,000). Around 418,000 speak Hausa, a Chadic language, while 915,000 speak Bedawi, a Cushitic language.

F.

Education

Education is free but not compulsory in Sudan. In 2005 adult literacy was 63.2 per cent. In 1998–1999 about 2.48 million pupils attended state primary schools, and 1,010,060 students were enrolled in secondary schools. Many children in the north also attended Koranic schools. In addition, some 34,300 students attended vocational and teacher-training institutions. About 54,345 students attended institutions of higher education, which included the University of Khartoum (1956), Omdurman Islamic University (1912), the University of Juba (1975), and the University of Gezira (1975). The universities have frequently been closed by government because of political agitation among the students. The University of Juba has been closed by the civil war, and the school system in the south has also collapsed.

G.

Culture

The northern two thirds of Sudan is an area of Islamic culture, with pre-Islamic traditions in rural areas and European traditions in the towns. European culture and religion have also influenced the southern peoples, but traditional customs focused on cattle-keeping remained strong until the diaspora caused by the civil war.

The library of the University of Khartoum is noted for its African and Sudanese collection. Other libraries in Sudan include the Flinders Petrie Library, named after the British Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie, the Geological Research Authority Library, and the Sudan Medical Research Laboratories Library, all of which are in Khartoum. A major collection of historical documents is housed in the National Records Office, in Khartoum.

The Sudan National Museum, in Khartoum, has collections of ancient artefacts. The Khalifa’s House, in Omdurman, contains a collection of relics of the Mahdiya (see History below). Also of interest are the Sudan Natural History Museum and the Ethnographical Museum, both in Khartoum.

In 2003 the Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region were inscribed as new World Heritage Sites. The region includes several archaeological sites, within the Nile Valley, of the Napatan (900 to 270 bc) and Meroitic (270 bc to ad 350) cultures, of the second kingdom of Kush. Tombs, with and without pyramids, temples, living complexes, and palaces are also found on the site.

IV.

Economy

In 2004 Sudan’s gross national product (World Bank estimate) was about US$18,718 million, equivalent to US$640 per capita. Agriculture continues to dominate the economy of Sudan. Economic growth was virtually nil between the mid-1960s and the late 1980s. In the 1990s, drought and civil war undermined the country’s efforts to restore growth or begin exploitation of oil reserves. Famine remains a constant threat, with food shortages widespread.

In 1992 the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), which had pursued isolationist and anti-Western policies since seizing power in 1989, began talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a programme to manage the country’s huge foreign debt, and introduced some economic reforms. In 1994 the IMF began proceedings to expel Sudan from the Fund, as its arrears had reached record levels. Sudan agreed to make payments on its arrears to the Fund and reduce state subsidies, and these measures were partly implemented in the mid-1990s. However, the country’s economy declined in the late 1990s, with its continuing isolation.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

About 58 per cent of Sudan’s population derives its living from agriculture. Only about 7.2 per cent of the country’s land area is used for arable cultivation; large areas are used for seasonal grazing. The chief food crops include sorghum (durra), millet, wheat, rice, sesame, cassava, potatoes, beans, bananas, sugar cane, and groundnuts (peanuts). During the 1970s large-scale mechanized production of sorghum was introduced in eastern Sudan, in the area between the Blue Nile and Atbara rivers. Production increased hugely, particularly in 1994, enabling Sudan for a while to become an exporter of the grain, but at the cost of soil erosion, and increased desertification.

Cotton is Sudan’s leading cash crop; it is produced in large amounts in the Gezira region between the Blue and White Niles. The livestock population in 2005 included about 37 million poultry, 48 million sheep, 38.3 million cattle, 42 million goats, and 3.30 million camels.

The major forest product of Sudan is gum arabic, which is an ingredient in confectionery, perfumes, and processed food, and is an important export. In 1995 about 40,000 tonnes of gum arabic were produced, making Sudan the world’s leading producer. Other forestry products include beeswax, tannin, senna, and timber, especially mahogany. The annual production of timber in 1994 was about 9.1 million cu m (321 million cu ft), of which more than 90 per cent was used for household fuel. Fishing is carried out along the rivers and on the coast; the annual catch in 2004 amounted to approximately 60,600 tonnes.

B.

Mining

Small amounts of chromium, manganese, and mica are produced. Other exploited minerals include gold, magnesite, and salt. Oil is produced in small amounts but is still largely unexploited.

C.

Manufacturing

Sudanese manufacturing is still in the early stages of development and largely confined to the processing of agricultural products. Yarn, textile, and paper mills, and sugar and petroleum refineries were established between the 1950s and late 1970s; a number of factories also produce such consumer goods as cigarettes, soft drinks, and shoes and sandals. Construction materials such as cement are also manufactured.

D.

Energy

In 2003 electrical output in Sudan was some 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours kWh of electricity. Supplies of hydroelectricity from large installations at Khashm al-Girbah and Sannār are supplemented by thermal electricity produced in facilities burning refined petroleum.

E.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit until May 1992 was the Sudanese pound. In that month it was replaced by the dinar, although Sudanese pounds remained legal tender (221.78 dinars equalled US$1; early 2007). The dinar remained in circulation until June 2007 when it was replaced by a new Sudanese pound at a rate of 100 dinar to the new pound. Currency is issued by the Bank of Sudan (Bank al-Sudan), which was founded in 1960. All banks were nationalized in 1970, but in 1976 foreign banks were allowed to operate again. The application of Islamic law from January 1, 1991, ended the charging of interest on official banking transactions. Sudan’s first stock exchange was opened in 1995.

F.

Commerce and Trade

In 2003 Sudan’s annual imports totalled approximately US$2,898 million. Exports in that year totalled about US$2,481 million. Almost 19 per cent of 1995 export revenue was accounted for by cotton lint and cotton seed. Other major exports were gum arabic (11 per cent of exports), sheep and lambs (14 per cent), groundnuts (5 per cent), and sesame seeds (13 per cent). The principal imports are machinery, petroleum products, foodstuffs, transport equipment, metal goods, and textiles. The main trading partners of Sudan are Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, the United States, Italy, and the Netherlands.

G.

Labour

About 70 per cent of the workforce (10.5, 2005) is engaged in agricultural or pastoral occupations. The unemployment rate in 1993 was 30 per cent. Sudan has a long history of active trade unionism and the unions played an important role in the restoration of democratic government in 1985. After the military coup of 1989 all trade union activity was banned, and several trade union leaders imprisoned. Before 1989 about 1.75 million Sudanese workers belonged to the principal trade union federation, the Sudan Workers’ Trade Unions Federation. Another 250,000 were members of the 54 unions affiliated to the Sudanese Federation of Employees and Professional Trade Unions.

H.

Transport

Approximately 5,478 km (3,404 mi) of railways were operating in 2005, linking most of the major cities and towns. Supplementing the railway system are about 5,310 km (3,299 mi) of navigable waterways (about 45 per cent useable all year), and 11,900 km (7,394 mi) of roads. Only 36 per cent of the network is paved, however, the rest comprising dirt tracks, impassable by vehicles after heavy rain. A paved highway, completed in 1980, links Khartoum and Port Sudan. In 1997 there were 11 passenger cars for every 1,000 people. A government-owned airline, Sudan Airways, maintains services throughout the country and operates scheduled international flights. Wadi Seidna International Airport lies just north of Khartoum. Several foreign airlines also serve Sudan.

I.

Communications

Telephone, telegraph, and postal services are administered by government monopolies. Although the telephone system is extensive, by Western standards it is poorly maintained. Two satellite Earth stations enable international communications. The state-controlled Sudan National Broadcasting Corporation and Sudan Television together provide three television channels and a radio service in Arabic, English, and several languages spoken in southern Sudan. In 2000 some 14 million radios and 9 million television receivers were estimated to be in use. Sudan’s independent newspapers were closed by the government after the 1989 coup.

V.

Government

The constitution of 1973, establishing Sudan as a one-party presidential republic, was suspended following a military coup in April 1985. Multi-party elections were held in 1986, but all political activity was banned after another military coup in June 1989, and many leading political figures arrested. In 1992 an appointed transitional parliament was established by General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, leader of the Revolutionary Command Council.

In 1993 a package of reform measures was announced which, according to Bashir, was designed to ensure that presidential and legislative elections would be held in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Elections held in March 1996 were boycotted by the main opposition parties. In February 1998 guidelines for the new constitution were announced, revealing attempts by the government to introduce a degree of liberalization and containing provisions for a multi-party system. The draft constitution was approved by a referendum in May 1998 and political parties were permitted to form from January 1999.

A.

Executive and Legislature

After the April 1985 coup, a 15-member Transitional Military Council took control. In April 1986 the people elected members to a parliamentary assembly; the leader of the majority party became prime minister. After the 1989 coup, a 15-member Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) assumed control. On October 16, 1993, as part of the reform measures announced earlier in the month, the council dissolved itself, naming Bashir as president of a new civilian government, which included most of the ministers from the outgoing administration. Bashir was elected to a five-year term following the March 1996 elections.

A 264-seat National Assembly, elected in April 1986, was dissolved after the 1989 coup. A 300-seat Transitional National Assembly was established in 1993, with the power to propose and pass legislation, veto government legislation, and ratify treaties. Today, a 360-seat National Assembly (Majlis Watani) has 270 members directly elected for four-year terms, with other seats reserved for women, university graduates, and trade unionists. The Assembly is dominated by the National Congress Party of Bashir.

B.

Judiciary

Until 1983, Sudan's judicial system was divided into two major branches: a civil branch handling most cases, and an Islamic branch handling only personal and family matters. In 1983 President Nimeiry revoked all existing laws in favour of a new, strict Islamic code administered by a system of Shari’ah law courts. These courts were abolished in the 1985 coup, and it was announced that the previous two-level system would be reintroduced.

Following the 1989 coup, the RCC established special courts to investigate violations of the emergency laws. It was announced in June 1991 that these courts were to be incorporated into the general judicial system, which had been returned to Shari’ah law earlier in the year. Shari’ah law was not reimposed on the south. The government has, since 1989, been widely criticized by both international human rights agencies, and western governments (who have frozen aid disbursements) for human rights abuses.

C.

Health and Welfare

Limited health services are badly underfunded and are virtually non-existent in rural areas. Malaria and leishmaniasis are endemic in most areas, and undernourishment and malnutrition are common. In 1990 there were about 10,000 people per doctor; 3.3 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was spent on health care. The country had an infant mortality rate of 60 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007.

D.

Defence

Sudan has conscription for three years. In 2004 the armed forces of Sudan numbered about 104,800. The army had about 100,000 members (including 20,000 conscripts); the navy, 1,800; and the air force, 3,000. From 1984 the military was involved in a war in southern Sudan, by groups demanding greater political autonomy for the region, or in some cases complete separation from northern Sudan. A peace deal ended the war in 2004.

E.

International Organizations

Sudan is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Arab League, and the African Union.

VI.

History

From remote antiquity until relatively recent times, the northern portion of the territory comprising modern Sudan formed part of the region known as Nubia. The history of Nilotic, or southern, Sudan before the 19th century is obscure. Egyptian penetration of Nubia began during the period (about 2755-2255 bc) of the Old Kingdom. By 1570 bc, when the 18th Dynasty was founded, Nubia had been reduced to the status of an Egyptian province. The region between the Nubian Desert and the Nile contains numerous monuments, ruins, and other relics of the period of Egyptian dominance, which was ended by a Nubian revolt in the 8th century bc.

A succession of independent kingdoms was subsequently established in Nubia. The most powerful of these, Maqurra, a Christian state centred at Dunqulah (Dongola) and founded in the 6th century ad, endured until the early 14th-century invasion of the Egyptian Mamelukes. Another, Alwa, its capital at Soba in the vicinity of present-day Khartoum, was overwhelmed in about 1500 by the Funj, black Muslims of uncertain origin, who established a sultanate at Sannār.

During the 16th century, the Funj emerged as a powerful Muslim state, and Sannār became one of the great cultural centres of Islam. Dissension among the leading Funj tribes vastly weakened the kingdom during the final years of the 18th century, however. In 1820, it was invaded by an Egyptian army. The ensuing war ended in 1822 with a complete victory for Egypt (at that time a province of the Ottoman Empire). The greater part of Nubia thereupon became an Egyptian province, known as the Egyptian Sudan.

Turkish-Egyptian rule, which was marked by southward expansion of the province, endured for 60 years. In the west, however, the Sultanate of Darfur retained its independence until well into the period of British rule. Internal unrest, resulting from the slave trade in the south and general administrative incompetence, mounted steadily during this period. Between 1877 and 1880, when the British general and administrator Charles George Gordon served as Governor of Egyptian Sudan as a servant of the Ottoman Empire, efforts were made to suppress the slave trade and other abuses.

A.

The Mahdi

The anarchic state of affairs that developed after Gordon’s resignation culminated in 1882 in a revolution led by Muhammad Ahmad, who about 1880 had proclaimed himself the Mahdi, the person who, according to a Muslim tradition, would rid the world of evil. The rebels won successive victories, including the annihilation of an Egyptian army in November 1883 and the capture of Khartoum in January 1885. With the latter victory, in which Gordon was killed, the Mahdists won complete control over the province.

Conditions in Egyptian Sudan deteriorated under the rule of the Mahdi and of the caliph Abdallah at-Taaisha, who succeeded the Mahdi in 1885. The caliph waged incessant war against the Nilotic peoples of the south, adding large sections of territory to Egyptian Sudan, and undertook various other military adventures, notably an abortive attempt to conquer Egypt in 1889.

Economic and social chaos engulfed Sudan during the closing years of the caliph’s reign. Meanwhile, Egypt had become a virtual possession of Britain. In 1896 the British and Egyptian governments, alarmed at the spread of French influence from west and central Africa into Nilotic Sudan, dispatched a joint military expedition against the caliph. This expedition, led by General Horatio Herbert Kitchener, routed the caliph’s forces at Omdurman on September 2, 1898. The Anglo-Egyptian victory brought about the complete collapse of the Mahdist movement.

On January 19, 1899, the British and Egyptian governments concluded the agreement that provided for joint sovereignty in Sudan, or a condominium. In practice, Britain was the dominant partner in the condominium, establishing an administrative system in the north, considered the most prestigious after the Indian civil service, and encouraging in the 1920s new economic projects, such as the Gezira scheme, to provide an income for the Sudan, and so reduce direct subventions from the British government. In the south, British control was much less sure, being left in the hands of a few civil servants, who became known as “barons” because of their semi-autonomous power over huge areas.

B.

British-Egyptian Sovereignty

Despite growing discontent among Egyptian and Sudanese nationalists, who demanded termination of British authority in Sudan, the Egyptian government concluded a treaty with Britain in 1936, which confirmed, among other things, the convention of 1899. Egyptian antagonism over the arrangement became especially acute following World War II. In 1946 the two nations began negotiations to revise the treaty of 1936. The Egyptian government demanded British withdrawal from Sudan, and the British proposed certain modifications of the existing regime. The negotiations between the two countries ended in deadlock.

On June 19, 1948, after consultations with certain northern Sudanese officials, the British governor-general in Sudan promulgated reforms purportedly calculated to give the northern Sudanese experience in self-government as a prerequisite to decisions concerning the ultimate political status of Sudan. The newly authorized legislative assembly was elected in November. Supporters of political groups advocating union with Egypt boycotted the election. In December 1950 the legislative assembly, dominated by groups favouring Sudanese independence, adopted a resolution asking Egypt and Britain to grant full self-government to Sudan in 1951.

During 1950 and 1951 the Egyptian government continued to demand British withdrawal from Sudan. The legislature denounced the condominium agreement and the 1936 treaty in October 1951, and it proclaimed Faruk I King of Egypt and Sudan. Anglo-Egyptian negotiations on the status of Sudan were resumed, following the forced abdication of King Faruk in July 1952. On February 12, 1953, the two governments signed an agreement providing self-determination for Sudan within a three-year transitional period.

C.

Sudanization and Independence

In compliance with the provisions of the agreement, the first Sudanese parliamentary elections were held late in 1953. The pro-Egyptian National Unionist Party won a decisive victory. The first all-Sudanese government, essentially a government of northerners, assumed office on January 9, 1954. Designated “Appointed Day”, the date marked the official beginning of the transitional period of “Sudanization”, a process of replacing all foreigners in responsible governmental and military posts by Sudanese.

The Sudanization programme, which was completed in August 1955, accentuated the geographic, economic, and social differences between northern and southern Sudan. In addition to leaving government of the region in the hands of the “barons”, the British had done virtually nothing to develop the region educationally or economically, or to build infrastructure systems. In the north the Gezira was well established, and new industries developing; a railway network had been developed; and schools and a university college established.

The British administration, while largely keeping Christian missionaries out of the north, had allowed them free reign in the south, where they were responsible for what little education and development was achieved, but also—through Christianization—exacerbated the cultural differences between the regions. Southerners felt excluded from the new government, and saw independence mainly as the replacement of British rule by northern Sudanese rule. A mutiny of southern units of the Sudanese army broke out on August 19, and was put down by government forces. On August 30 parliament approved a measure stipulating that Sudan should determine its future status by means of a plebiscite. Meanwhile, Britain and Egypt agreed to withdraw their troops by November 12, 1955.

On December 19 the Sudanese parliament, bypassing the projected plebiscite, declared Sudan an independent state. The Republic of Sudan was formally established on January 1, 1956. Egypt and Britain immediately recognized the new nation. Sudan became a member of the Arab League on January 19 and of the UN on November 12.

D.

Abboud’s Rule

The first general parliamentary elections after Sudan attained independence were held on February 27, 1958. The Umma Party, linked to the family and followers of the Mahdi, won a majority and formed a new government on March 20. It was overthrown on November 17 by Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Abboud, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Abboud, reputedly an advocate of closer relations with Egypt, dismissed parliament, suspended the constitution, declared martial law, and established a Cabinet with himself the prime minister.

In November 1964 President Abboud resigned. He was replaced by a supreme council of state. A revolt in southern Sudan, which had begun under Abboud against domination by the north, developed into a costly civil war which continued until March 1972, when the south was granted some autonomy. A shift towards a pro-Arab foreign policy was evident after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.

E.

The Nimeiry Regime

In 1969 a group of radical army officers, led by Colonel (later Field Marshal) Gaafar Muhammad al-Nimeiry, seized power and set up a government under a revolutionary council. Political tension continued, however, and several coups were attempted. During this period Nimeiry, who became the first elected president of Sudan in 1971, consolidated his power and negotiated a ceasefire with the southern secessionists. In early 1973 a new constitution was promulgated.

Initially, Nimeiry turned to the Soviet Union and Libya for support, but after coup attempts (in 1976) allegedly backed by Libya and local communists, he turned to Egypt, conservative Arab states, and the West for political and economic aid, which he received in huge amounts, especially from the United States after 1973. Relations with the United States, disrupted by the murder of two American diplomats by Arab terrorists in Khartoum in 1973, were repaired; Nimeiry was the only Arab leader to back Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in his peace negotiations with Israel. Sadat’s assassination in 1981 left Sudan considerably more vulnerable to the enmity of Libya. The country’s stability during the late 1970s was also threatened by a huge influx of refugees from Eritrea, Uganda, and Chad, which seriously strained its resources.

President Nimeiry won re-election to a third term in April 1983. In September he issued a blanket pardon for some 13,000 prisoners and announced a revision of the penal code to accord with Islamic (Shari’ah) law. Martial law, imposed in April 1984 in the wake of rising tensions with Libya, protests over food price increases, and the imposition of Shari’ah law, in the north as well as the predominantly non-Muslim south, remained in force until late September.

F.

Overthrow of Nimeiry

Following the imposition of Shari’ah law, a new group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) had emerged with the initial aim of overthrowing Nimeiry. Although based in southern Sudan, and led by a southerner, John Garang, the SPLA aimed to attract all opponents of the regime. It had some initial success among western Sudanese, who also felt neglected by the dominance of the Nile valley, and made quick military gains. A popular uprising in Khartoum in April 1985 finally led to Nimeiry’s overthrow in a bloodless military coup.

G.

A New Mahdi

After a year of military rule, Sadiq al-Mahdi, the great-grandson of the Mahdi, and leader of the Umma Party, was elected prime minister in the first free election in 18 years. Voting was postponed in 37 southern constituencies, however, due to fighting by the SPLA. The newly elected assembly was to draft and approve a new constitution and to hold elections every four years. However, severe food shortages, guerrilla unrest, a mounting debt crisis, and internal disagreements weakened the new government’s power. The economy stagnated and the civil war in the south worsened.

H.

The al-Bashir Coup

In June 1989 a military coup headed by Brigadier Omar Hassan al-Bashir toppled the Mahdi government. A state of emergency was imposed, and Sudan was ruled through a 15-member Revolutionary Council. Conditions deteriorated in the early 1990s, as the Bashir regime ruthlessly suppressed political opposition and stepped up the war against SPLA in the south, which had by then factionalized into different groups differing in both objectives (overthrow of the government in Khartoum, or complete secession) and tactics. Fighting between the groups weakened their position, as well as making even worse the position of ordinary southern Sudanese.

I.

Famine

During the early 1990s, famine was added to the problems of displacement and warfare in the south; efforts of international aid agencies to bring food in were continually frustrated by both the rebels and the government in Khartoum. In 1993 Bashir took tentative steps towards an elected legislature (but not to a return of party politics), including the dissolution of the military government. However, the decision to retain most of his former ministers prompted many to perceive these changes as largely cosmetic. Despite attempts at a peace initiative with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army early in 1994, the number of refugees continued to swell, and hundreds of thousands of Sudanese faced the growing threat of civil war, homelessness, and starvation. Sudan’s pro-Iraq stance in the Gulf War served to alienate Sudan on the world stage, together with accusations of Sudanese involvement in terrorist actions, including the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. There were also suspicions that Sudan had supported Islamic rebel groups in neighbouring countries, such as Uganda, thereby subverting their governments. The country has few allies, which include Iran, Yemen, and Libya; in the late 1990s its foreign debt soared to three times its GDP.

In March 1996 legislative elections were held, in which the incumbent president polled over 75 per cent of votes cast. An attempted coup d’état occurred later that month, followed by a period of intense unrest in the wake of threatened UN sanctions. A new military Islamic Cabinet was announced in late April, and a few days later the UN imposed diplomatic sanctions on Sudan based on UN Resolution 1044, which formally accuses the country of supporting and sponsoring terrorism.

In March 1998 proposals for a new constitution, planned for late 1998 and enabling greater freedom of expression and association and a multi-party system, were announced. They included the relegalization of the Sudanese Communist Party and a quota system for female representatives in the National Assembly. The announcement was judged by some observers as a sign that the regime was on the defensive and was seeking to break out of isolation, although its army support appeared to remain firm. Although the draft new constitution guarantees freedom of religion, it nevertheless states that Sudan will continue to be governed under Islamic Shari'ah law.

By July 1998 there was widespread famine in Sudan and international aid agencies claimed that some 2.6 million people were in urgent need of food. The agencies were at times impeded in their efforts to deliver food supplies as the government restricted the number of aid flights into the region, using hunger as a weapon against the rebel forces. Peace talks resumed in May in Nairobi between Sudan's northern Islamic government and largely Christian southern rebels; they remained, however, inconclusive.

J.

New Constitution

In May 1998 the government's planned new constitution was approved by a referendum, and was signed into law in June. The constitution invalidated previous presidential decrees that included bans on political parties. In November 1998 the National Assembly voted to approve the formation of political parties, and these began registering from January 1999.

The ongoing power struggle and controversies on constitutional issues between President al-Bashir and the parliamentary speaker and head of the National Congress (the National Islamic Front), Hassan Abdullah al-Turabi, escalated in late 1999 and led, in December, to the imposition of a state of emergency by the president. The National Assembly was dissolved, and the Cabinet resigned. A new government was appointed in January 2000, together with a group of state governors and governmental advisers.

K.

End to the Civil War

The government announced, in August 1999, a ceasefire in the troubled southern area of the country, with the aim of allowing relief operations. The rebels, however, rejected the ceasefire offer. Negotiations nevertheless continued, and in November a peace accord, mediated by the Djibouti government, was reached. Hailed as the 'Call of the Homeland', the settlement envisaged a transitional four-year period of ceasefire and security-building, with a referendum in 2003 that would give the south of the country the option of secession.

The government and the SPLA recommenced negotiations in February 2000, in Kenya, but new fighting soon broke out again. In March the state of emergency was extended, as the issues between the president and the head of the National Congress remained unresolved. As Sudan's relations with neighbouring countries began to normalize, the United States reopened the embassy in Khartoum, which was closed two years before amid security fears.

In the presidential and parliamentary elections of December that year, al-Bashir won another five-year term. However, his main opposition parties boycotted the elections, claiming they were negative and divisive. Shortly afterwards, al-Bashir extended the state of emergency for another year. Yousif Kuwa, commander of the rebel SPLA divisions in the Nuba mountains of central Sudan died in March 2001. In May, the government launched a further major offensive against the SPLA. Talks in Nairobi failed to bring an end to the fighting and a short-lived ceasefire was broken when the SPLA reported another government offensive against them. Meanwhile, the US had sent a special envoy, former senator John Danforth, to negotiate a permanent truce between the warring factions. A seemingly permanent ceasefire was signed in Lucerne, Switzerland, in January 2002 and was followed by a deal to end the war in July, the most significant proposal of which was the promised referendum on independence after a six-year power-sharing period. Despite the agreement and continuing peace talks, the fighting continued. In May 2004 a further peace deal was proposed (it was signed in December 2004). The deal gives autonomy to the south for a period of six years followed by a referendum on independence at the end of that time. The north and the south have agreed to share the country’s economic wealth throughout that period. The former Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang was appointed as vice-president of the country as part of the peace deal but was killed in a helicopter crash a mere three weeks later, leading to violence in the capital city. By 2005, an estimated 2 million people had died in the civil war that started in 1983.

L.

The Darfur Crisis

In 2003 an uprising in the western Sudanese region of Darfur by black African groups, protesting about unfair treatment and calling for greater rights for non-Arabs, led to a determined crackdown by government-backed Arab militias known as Janjaweed. Between 2003 and 2007 the militias are estimated to have forced around 2.5 million people from their homes, with as many as 200,000 fleeing into neighbouring Chad where a humanitarian disaster has ensued. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting: estimates range as high as 450,000. The militias are accused of systematic mass rape and “ethnic cleansing” in the villages they attack. Initially, back in 2003, both the US Secretary of State Colin Powell and the US Congress reported that there was not enough evidence to claim genocide was taking place in the country; however, these positions were reversed a year later. The UN has concluded that there is insufficient proof that the government has followed a policy of genocide in the region. Nevertheless, a UN Security Council resolution in July 2004 called for the Janjaweed to be disarmed and in 2005 the UN Security Council voted to apply sanctions to the country and to refer war crimes suspects in the Darfur region to the International Criminal Court (ICC); the first charges were made in May 2007 against Janjaweed fighter Ali Kushayb and Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister Ahmed Haroun.

In May 2006 a peace agreement was signed between the government and one faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, the region’s largest rebel group. However, there appeared little progress in the disarmament of the Janjaweed as stipulated in the agreement. Around 7,000 African Union peacekeepers were deployed to the region but the government rejected a UN peacekeeping force. Threats of US and EU sanctions led to further talks, with an AU-UN joint peacekeeping force being proposed. An agreement was reached in the UN in July 2007 to send 19,000 peacekeepers to Darfur.