Sudan is the largest country in Africa, just over one quarter the size of USA. It is bordered by nine African countries, Egypt to the north, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. It is land locked except for the Red Sea to the northeast, Nile River runs through Sudan and in capital Khartoum the Blue Nile and the White Nile merge to become the longest river in the World.
The population of Sudan is nearly 39 million according to the latest census of 2009. Sudan has 597 tribes that speak over 400 different languages and dialects split into two major cultural groupings: Sudanese Arabs of the largely Muslim Northern Sudan versus Sudanese non-Muslim of the largely Christian and animist Southern Sudan. These two groups consist of hundreds of smaller ethnic and tribal divisions, and in the latter case, language groups.
The northern states cover most of Sudan and include most of the urban centers. Most of the 25 million Sudanese who live in this region are Arabic-speaking Muslims, though the majority also use a traditional non-Arabic mother tongue (e.g. Nubian, Beja, Fur, Nuban, Ingessana, etc) as education is in Arabic language.
The Southern region has a population of around six million and a predominantly rural, subsistence economy. This region has been affected by war for all but 10 years since the country’s independence in 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement. More than two million people have died, and more than four million are internally displaced or have become refugees as a result of the civil war and war-related impacts.
Islam predominates in the North, while traditional indigenous beliefs (animism) and Christianity are prevalent in the South. Some Muslim leaders estimate the Muslim population to be more than 32 million, or above 80 percent of the total population, this is very debatable, as before Egyptian colonization, the majority or almost all of the population of Sudan were Christians.
Christians are generally considered the third largest group. The Roman Catholic Church estimates the number of baptized Catholics at six million, including small communities in the north. Anglicans estimate five million followers in the Episcopal Church of Sudan and the dissident Reformed Episcopal Church. There are very small but long established groups of Orthodox Christians in Khartoum and other northern cities.
Foreign missionary groups operate in both North and South, although Christian missionary activity is limited in the North owing to Shari’a, strong social pressure against proselytizing, and existing laws against apostasy.
Many Christians in the North are descended from pre-Islamic era communities or are trading families that immigrated from Egypt or the Near East before independence (1956). Many Muslims in the South are shopkeepers or small business owners who sought economic opportunities during the civil war. Political tensions have created not only a sense of ethnic and religious marginalization among the minority religious group in each region but also a feeling among the majority that the minority groups control a disproportionate share of the wealth.
On 4 March 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. This has been followed by severe sanctions being put on the country due to alleged ties with Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda. As a result, Sudan has scored low in human development for 2009 having been ranked number 150 between Haiti and Tanzania. Statistics indicate that about 17% of the population live on less than US $1.25 per day.
Sudan is a member of the United Nations, and also maintains membership with the African Union.