Sudan: Population
Chapter 4: Red Sea, Horn of Africa
Sudan: Population
Population, Ethnic Groups
/ Language, Religion / Education, Health
/ Statistics
Overview
/ Leadership / System Essentials
/ Infrastructure / Fielded Forces
/ Table of Contents
Cotton at Al Jazirah where aid has helped rehabilitate irrigation systems
Sudan has a population of 29.4 million (1994 est.) and a growth rate of 2.36% (1994 est.). About half of the population is under the age of eighteen. Approximately 20 percent of the population is urban. Most of the urban populace is concentrated in the national capital, Khartoum, and the two nearby cities, Omdurman, and Khartoum North.
The largest ethnic category is Arab (40%), but that category is internally split by regional and tribal loyalties and affiliation to various Muslim politico-religious groups. Major Muslim (but non-Arab) groups are the Nubians in the far north, the nomadic Beja in the northeast, and the Fur in the west. Southern non-Muslim groups include the Dinka (more than 10 percent of total population and 40 percent in south), the Nuer, and numerous smaller ethnic groups.
Arabic is the primary and official language. English is a common second language in south. Other languages include Bedawiye used by the Beja and various dialects of Niger-Kurdufanian and Nilo-Saharan.
More than half of the total population is Muslim with most living in the north where Muslims constitute 75 percent or more of population. The southern population is comprised mostly of Christians and adherents of various indigenous animist religions.
Six-year primary education is increasingly available, but the south and many northern communities still suffer from a shortage of schools and teachers. Many schools in the south have been destroyed by civil war. A small proportion of primary school graduates continue in three-year junior secondary and upper secondary schools or attend technical schools. Most schools are in urban locations and many lacked adequately trained teachers. Universities are producing adequate numbers of highly educated graduates but Sudanese with skills relevant to the largely agricultural economy are still in short supply. The estimate of adult literacy is about 27% percent (43% male, 12% female).
By 1991, the civil war had destroyed most of the medical facilities in the south, and famine has had a serious impact on general health. Weak modern medical infrastructure are suffering personnel shortages and an urban-rural imbalance; most personnel and facilities are concentrated in the capital area. Malaria and gastrointestinal diseases are prevalent through much of country. Major health concerns are tuberculosis, schistosomiasis (snail fever), sleeping sickness, and AIDS.
World ranking (of 191)