PEOPLE:
Population: 33,550,552 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 7,769,266; female 7,449,510)
15-64 years: 52% (male 8,818,018; female 8,778,485)
65 years and over: 3% (male 410,170; female 325,103) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.73% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 39.94 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 10.88 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.26 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 72.64 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 55.97 years
male: 55 years
female: 56.98 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.68 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Sudanese
Ethnic groups: 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:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.1%
male: 57.7%
female: 34.6% (1995 est.)
In Sudan's 1981 census, the population was calculated at 21 million. Current estimates range to 25 million. The population of metropolitan Khartoum (including Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North) is growing, and ranges from 3-4 million, including over 1 million displaced persons from the southern war zone. Sudan has two distinct cultures-Arab and black African-and effective collaboration between them is a major problem.
The five northern regions cover most of Sudan and include most urban centers. Most of the estimated 18 million Sudanese who live in this area are Arabic-speaking Muslims. Among these are several distinct tribal groups; the Kababish of northern Kordofan, a camel-raising people; the Jaalin and Shaigiyya groups of settled tribes living along rivers; the semi-nomadic Baggara of Kordofan and Darfur; the Hamitic Beja in the Red Sea area and Nubians of the northern Nile area, some of whom have been resettled on the Atbara River; and the Negroid Nuba of southern Kordofan and Fur in the western reaches of the country.
The southern region has a population of about 4-6 million and a predominantly rural, subsistence economy. Here the Sudanese practice mainly indigenous, traditional beliefs, although Christian missionaries have converted some. The south also contains many tribal groups and uses many more languages than the north. The Dinka (pop. 1 million or more) is the largest of the many black African tribes in Sudan. Along with the Shilluk and the Nuer, they are among the Nilotic tribes. The Azande, Bor, and Jo Luo are "Sudanic" tribes in the west, and the Acholi and Lotuhu live in the extreme south, extending into Uganda.