Country Summary

sudan

Country Profile

Swaziland


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General

Sudan is located in Northern Africa bordering the Red Sea, Libya, Chad, Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sudan has been recently plagued by instability in the country due to two main factors. Military dictatorships favoring an Islamic-oriented government and civil wars that have lasted for more than 10 years have hurt Sudan’s growth and economy. The war pits the Arab/Muslim majority in Khartoum against the non-Muslim African rebels in the south Since 1983, the war and famine-related effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced.

Sudan is a divided country with an Arab/Muslim majority in the north and a non-Muslim African population in the south. The majority of the people are Arab due the close proximity to the Middle East and due to the majority of the population in the north. Black, Beja, foreigners, and other cultural groups make up the rest of the population.

The major religions in the country follow this path, with Islam mostly in the north, Christianity mostly in south and Khartoum, and various indigenous beliefs scattered throughout the country. The official language in the country is Arabic, though native languages such as Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Sudanic languages, and diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic are spoken. The populations in the south of the country, along with government officials throughout the country, speak English.

Sudan gained its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956. The legal system in Sudan is based on a mix of English common law and Islamic law. However, the constitution and legal systems have been thrown out and changed with each coup of the government. Currently Shar’ia or Islamic law is implemented in the northern areas, regardless of anyone’s personal religious beliefs.

Sudan today is a divided country. There is a cease-fire between the Muslim North and Christian South, but both sides break the cease-fire every couple of months. The cease-fire was implemented to help the Sudanese people and to help put the country back on track. The cease-fire was implemented by the current chief of state is President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir who assumed executive power and retained it through many transitional governments before being popularly elected in 2001.

Education

Literacy rates have been on the decline due to major fighting in the country. The government allocates approximately 5% of the annual budget towards education which results in lower literacy rates. In the adult population, 68.5% of the women are literate while 40% of the men are literate. This level remains consistent for primary school enrollment with 45% and 60% for girls and boys respectively. The number diminishes greatly in secondary school enrollment, with only 21% and 27% rate for girls and boys respectively.

Health

The health situation in Sudan is getting better now that a cease-fire has been implemented. Throughout the civil war, the health of the people got worse as each day went by. The effect of the diminished health situation was felt mainly in the rural southern region where more than 2 million people died due to various health-related diseases. Malnutrition was also prevalent throughout the country due to the war because the people could not produce the agriculture which was their business as well as their daily food.

During the war, the government went through many changes and therefore could not implement programs or allocate funds to help the people. Before the war, more than 62% of the people were immunized against DPT and while 57% of the people were immunized against measles. After the war the number decreased to 50% for DPT and 47% for measles, while the government spent only 0.7% of the annual budget on health. However, the government has tried to improve the daily lives of the people since the implementation of the cease-fire. More than three-quarters of the people have access to improved water while two-thirds of the people have access to improved sanitation.

Food & Diet

The Sudanese diet is comprised mainly of agricultural products, which is also one of their main exports. Sudanese people consume 2186 calories a day, with more than 1275 calories comprised of vegetables and other cereals. The cereals are comprised mainly of sorghum along with wheat and millet.

The government of Sudan spends approximately 2.7% of the GNP on health resulting in 21% of the children being underweight and 22% of the children being of lower height. Malnutrition is a problem in Sudan and this problem has been increasing with the economic and political instability.

Indicators

Population
	1990	1995	1999	2002
Total (millions)	26,627,366	30,567,288	34,085,246	37,090,298
< 5 years	18.4%	18.2%	17.2%	16.5%
5-14 years	27.6%	27.9%	28.1%	27.7%
> 14 years	54.1%	53.9%	54.7%	55.8%

Population Growth Rate	1990		2002
			2.73
TFR (Total Fertility Rate)	1990		2002
	5.4		5.2
Under- five Mortality Rate	1990		2002
	123		108
IMR (Infant Mortality Rate)	1990		2002
	75		67.1
MMR (deaths per 100,000 live births)
% Pregnant Women Immunized against Tetanus	1990		2002

DPT Immunization (% < 12 mths)	1990		2002
	62		50
Measles Immunization (% < 12mths)	1990		2002
	57		47

*Economic*

GNP (US $ billions)	1990		2002
			11
GNP per capita at PPP	2002
	310
GNP annual growth rate (%)	1990-2002
	6
% Below Poverty Line ($1/day)
Public Expenditure on Health (% of GDP)	1990-2002

Public Expenditure on Education (% of GDP)	1990-2002
	1.4

*Education*
	1990	1995	1999	2002
Literacy pop. over 15
Females	68.5	61.4		53.8
Males	40	35.4		35.8
Gross Primary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females	45	46		51
Males	60	54		59
Gross Secondary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females	21	19		36
Males	27	22		22

*Health, Nutrition, and Food*
	1995
% of Births Attended	86
% Pop. Access Adequate Sanitation	1990-2002
	62
% Pop. Access Improved Water	1990-2002
	75
% Pop. living with HIV/AIDS, (age 15 -49)	2001
	2.6
Weight/Age (% less than –2 z-score)	17
Height/Age (% less than –2 z-score)
Exclusively Breastfed (0-3 months)%
Food and Dietary Indices	1990	1995	1999	2002
Total Calories Consumed (kcals/day)	2.137	2.329	2.310	2.272
Animal Sources of food (kcals/day)	.386	.446	.459	.487

Food & Diet

Sources

1. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

2. http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/

3. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

4. http://www.measuredhs.com/data/indicators

5. http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset=nutrition

6. http://genderstats.worldbank.org

7. http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/indicator/

8. http://www.state.gov

9. http://www.childinfo.org/

10. Europa World Year Book 2001, 42nd edition, 2nd volume

Population

GNP per capita at PPP