What Is the Official Country Name of Sudan?
What is the official country name of Sudan? The official name of the country of Sudan is the Republic of the Sudan. Read on to find out more about the largest country in Africa and its turbulent past.
The official name of Sudan was not always the Republic of the Sudan.
The Sudanese were granted independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956, and the official name of the country, which was previously called just Sudan, became the Republic of the Sudan.
The official name of its capital city is Khartoum, which has over five million people, and it total population is over 42 million. 70 percent of the population is Islamic and the monetary unit is the dinar. Arabic and English are the official languages.
Sudan History
The Republic of the Sudan is located in northeastern Africa. It is bordered by:
- Egypt on the north
- Ethiopia and Eritrea on the east
- Uganda and Kenya on the south
- Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the southwest
- Chad on the west
- Libya on the northwest
The Red Sea borders it on the northeast side. The Nile River runs through the entire country dividing it into east and west sides.
Civil War before Independence
Before the official ceremony marking Sudan’s independence, a civil war broke out between the north and the south. The south feared that the new country would be run by the north, since the north had ties with Egypt and was predominantly Muslim. The south has a mixture of Christianity and Animism.
This war lasted from 1955 until 1972, when the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed. The civil war began again in 1983 when the president enacted fundamentalist Islamic law for the entire country. In 1995, former US President Carter negotiated a ceasefire so aid could be sent to Southern Sudan, but it only lasted six months.
During the 1990s, the government of Sudan reached out to Islamic fundamentalist groups, inviting Osama bin Laden into the country. This put Sudan on the list of countries that support terrorism. In 2002 there was a cease-fire and peace talks began. The government and the SPLA, Sudan People's Liberation Army, sign the Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2004. This ended a very long civil war where two million people were killed.
Between 2003 and 2006, Darfur saw much conflict as Arab militias fought rebel groups, often engaging in genocide. The Sudanese government, the Sudanese Liberation Movement, the largest rebel group, and other rebel groups signed the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2006. However, all the violence did not end, as not all the rebel groups signed the agreement.
Geography of Sudan
Understanding Sudan involves more than just understanding that its official name is the Republic of Sudan. You also need to know what the official location and borders of the country are.
Sudan is the tenth largest country in the world and is mostly plains separated by several mountain ranges. In Khartoum, these rivers combine to make the River Nile: the Blue Nile River and the White Nile River. Then the Nile flows northward through Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. Tributaries of the Blue Nile River include the Dindar and Rahad rivers. There are no significant tributaries of the White Nile River.
North Sudan has the Nubian Desert, and is very dry. It is plagued by sandstorms, called haboob, which sometimes block out the sun. The rainy season lasts from July to September. Many people in this region are nomadic and have herds of sheep and camels. Closer to the Nile River, there is irrigation on farms where cash crops are raised.
Rainfall increases as you go into south Sudan, where there are actually rainforests and swamps. The rainy season here last for about six months. Natural resources of Sudan include: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum, silver, gold, uranium, copper, chromite, manganese, and other ores.