rn/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Sudanese

Ethnic divisions: black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%,
other 1%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%,
Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)

Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects
of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of Arabization in process

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 46.1%
male: 57.7%
female: 34.6%

Government
----------

Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of the Sudan
conventional short form: Sudan
local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
local short form: As-Sudan
former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Data code: SU

Type of government: transitional - previously ruling military
junta; presidential and National Assembly elections held in March
1996; new constitution to be drafted by the National Assembly

Capital: Khartoum

Administrative divisions: 9 states (wilayat, singular - wilayat or
wilayah*); A'ali an Nil (Upper Nile), Al Wusta*, Al Istiwa'iyah*
(Equatoria), Al Khartum, Ash Shamaliyah*, Ash Sharqiyah*, Bahr al
Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan
note: on 14 February 1994, the 9 states comprising Sudan were
divided into 26 new states; the following spellings have been
reported but not approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (Bahr
Aljebal, Blue Nile, Bohayrat, East Equatoria, Gedarif, Gezira,
Jungle, Kassala, Khartoum, North, North Bahr Alghazal, North Darfur,
North Kordofan, Red Sea, River Nile, Sinnar, South Darfur, South
Kordofan, Unity, Upper Nile, Warab, West Bahr Alghazal, West Darfur,
West Kordofan, West Equatoria, White Nile)

Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April
1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following
coup of 30 June 1989; new constitution to be drafted following
national elections held in March 1996

Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; as of
20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council
imposed Islamic law in the northern states; the council is still
studying criminal provisions under Islamic law; Islamic law applies
to all residents of the northern states regardless of thei