Sudan

Formerly known as anglo-egyptian sudan, the Republic of Sudan won its independence from Britain in 1956. The years since independence have been marked by two civil wars and ongoing political and civil unrest that have arisen from deep-root ed conflicts concerning the northern domination of southern Sudanese. After the end of the first civil war in 1972, there was a brief period of peace until war resumed in 1983. War and famine together subsequently caused the deaths of two million Sudanese and displaced another four million. The Naivasha Peace Treaty of 2005 granted a six-year period of southern autonomy, with a referendum scheduled on the issue of independence in 2011.

A separate conflict in the western region of Darfur that began in 2003 has led to the deaths of another 200,000 Sudanese and the displacement of close to two million people. In the spring of 2006, efforts to negotiate peace in the Darfur region resulted in a call for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces. Riots broke out even after an agreement was reached in May that negotiated a cease fire and paved the way for the deployment of UN troops. The Sudan continues to battle the residents of Chad, claiming that the Chadian government is helping to support guerilla warfare in the Sudan. Refugees from Chad and neighboring Ethiopia have strained the Sudan's environment and infrastructures. In April 2006, the Chadian government threatened to expel 250,000 black Sudanese who had fled to Chad to escape the genocide going on in the Sudan.

The Sudan's natural resources include: Petroleum, small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, and hydropower. Oil exports that began in 1999 have boosted the Sudanese economy, and the government has developed economic reforms using International Monetary Fund models. With less than seven percent of its land area fit for agriculture, however, 80 percent of the population are engaged in mostly subsistence agriculture. Unemployment currently stands at 18.8 percent. With a per capita income of $2,100, the Sudan is ranked 178th in world incomes. Forty percent of the population live in poverty, and 27 percent are undernourished. The UN Development Programme's Human Development Reports rank the Sudan 141 of 232 countries on overall qualityof-life issues.

The Sudan is the largest country in Africa, with a total area of 2,505,810 square kilometers. Bordering on the Red Sea, the Sudan has a coastline of 853 kilometers and 129,810 square kilometers of inland water resources, including the Nile River and its [Page 1674]tributaries. The Nile is the feature that most defines the Sudan, for it provides a lifeline for subsistence farmers. The Sudan shares borders with the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, and Uganda. Most of the land area of the Sudan is a flat, featureless plain. Land in the far south, northeast, and west is mountainous, however, and northern Sudan is dominated by desert. Elevations range from sea level to 3,186 meters at Kinyeti. The tropical climate of the south gives way to arid desert in the north. The rainy season differs according to region, lasting from July to September in the north and from June to November in the south. The entire country is subject to dust storms and periodic persistent droughts.

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