Sudan is a North African country bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south and Chad to the West.

It was once the largest country in Africa until July 2011 when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum.

The country is geographically as diverse as it is culturally; in the north, the Nile River cuts through the eastern edge of the Sahara. Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilisations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile.

The capital, Khartoum, is the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is Sudan’s largest city with an approximate population of 5.185 million in the metropolitan area.

Other cities include Kassala, the country’s largest market town, in the east; Nyala, in the west; Port Sudan, through which most international trade passes; Atbara, in the north; and Wad Medani in the central region.

Sudan’s population of about 41.175 million people is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. Sudanese Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Sudan. The predominant religion in Sudan is Islam with 97% being Sunni Muslims, 3% of the population predominately practices Christianity and animist traditional beliefs.

Agriculture is the main source of income and employment in Sudan, hiring over 80% of Sudanese and making up a third of the economic sector.

The country is endowed with rich natural resources, including natural gas, gold, silver, chromite, asbestos, manganese, gypsum, mica, zinc, iron, lead, uranium, copper, kaolin, cobalt, granite, nickel, tin and aluminium.

Top exports of Sudan are crude petroleum, raw sugar, insect resins and refined petroleum. Its top export destinations are China, Japan, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Sudan continues to strengthen links with key emerging country partners, especially China, Malaysia and India following the attraction of substantial resource seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) from these countries since the late 1990s.

The Government continues to engage in strategic partnerships with local and foreign private investors in order to increase agricultural exports and absorb the shock of losing oil revenues.

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