General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20266 min read

Sudan (السودان)

Sudan (السودان), officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa at the crossroads of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, with its capital at Khartoum. It shares borders with the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan¹. Covering 1,886,068 square kilometers (728,215 square miles), it is Africa's third-largest country by area and the third-largest in the Arab League². Since April 2023, a war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has produced what the United Nations calls the world's largest humanitarian crisis³.

Key fact	Detail
Area and rank	1,886,068 km² (728,215 sq mi); third-largest country in Africa and the Arab League²
Population	51,662,000 (UN projection, 2025); density 29.3 per km²⁴
Capital	Khartoum, population 5,677.9 thousand (2025 projection)⁴
Independence and UN membership	Independent in 1956; UN member since 12 November 1956⁵^•⁴
Currency	Sudanese Pound (SDG), exchange rate 578.2 per US$⁴
Economy under war	Real GDP fell an estimated 29.4% in 2023 and 14% in 2024; inflation 68% year-on-year in December 2024¹
Displacement	11,642,505 people forcibly displaced within Sudan or to neighboring countries as of 16 March 2026¹

Geography and climate

Sudan lies in Northeast Africa, where the White Nile and Blue Nile meet at Khartoum. Its territory spans arid and semi-arid zones; droughts are prolonged and floods recur, most recently in July 2020 when the River Nile and its tributaries overflowed during the rainy summer season⁶. In the arid and semi-arid areas of the White Nile, Gezira, and Kassala states, farmers, pastoralists, and nomads have prolonged conflicts over limited natural resources including agricultural fields, rangelands, and water⁷.

Desertification is a measured trend: if current rainfall trends continue, the Sahara Desert is estimated to advance southward at 1.5 km per year, threatening 25 percent of agricultural land and contributing to a drop of over 20 percent in food production⁸. Severe drought linked to El Niño has affected more than half of the country, causing localized crop failures and depriving households of food and income⁹.

History

Sudan became independent in 1956 and has had numerous changes of government since⁵. A 2005 peace agreement granted southern Sudan semiautonomous status and stipulated a referendum on independence; the vote, held in January 2011, was overwhelmingly in favor, and South Sudan was declared independent on 9 July 2011⁵. Secession removed oil revenues that had accounted for 50 percent of government revenue and 95 percent of exports, producing economic shocks, double-digit inflation, and violent protests in 2013¹.

Food price hikes and grievances after 30 years of rule under Omar Hassan El-Bashir led to demonstrations in 2018, his removal, and a Transitional Government in 2019 that carried out reforms and signed the Juba Peace Agreement with nearly all armed opposition groups in October 2020¹. The military ousted the government in late 2021, dissolving government structures and suspending the 2019 constitutional charter¹. A 2022 agreement between the military and political parties aimed to relaunch the transition, but consensus efforts deadlocked, and in April 2023 open conflict broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum before spreading across the country¹.

The war since 2023

The war began on 15 April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital and spread to other regions including the vast western Darfur region³. At least 20,000 people have been tallied as killed, though the number is likely far higher³. By April 2025, over 8 million people were displaced within Sudan and 4 million had fled across borders to seven countries³; by 16 March 2026 the total forcibly displaced within Sudan or to neighboring countries reached 11,642,505¹.

Drone strikes have made the conflict deadlier for civilians: more than 1,000 civilians were killed by drones in the first five months of 2026, according to the UN rights chief¹⁰. About 34 million people, almost two out of every three Sudanese, need assistance¹⁰.

Foreign involvement. The Sudanese Armed Forces can count on Egypt's military support, including intelligence, drones purchased from Iran or Turkey, fighter jets from Russia, China, or Algeria, and munitions from Yemen or Eritrea, with political or economic support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia to varying degrees. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia also aim to increase their influence over the 800 kilometers of Sudanese Red Sea coastline and the mineral resources of eastern Sudan. Alan Boswell, regional director of the International Crisis Group, has said the scale of foreign support makes the war unpredictable and risks destabilizing the region¹¹.

Humanitarian situation

A senior UN official said in April 2025 that Sudan had become the only nation experiencing famine, with nearly 25 million people, half the population, facing extreme hunger and people dying in famine-hit areas of western Darfur³. An IPC assessment in May found nearly 19.5 million people, more than 40 percent of the population, facing high levels of acute food insecurity, of whom 135,000 were in Phase 5, the most severe classification, characterized by extreme food shortages, starvation, very high malnutrition, and deaths from disease or acute malnutrition⁹. The IPC has identified a deteriorating humanitarian situation across greater Darfur and Kordofan, including areas at risk of famine⁹.

Funding has not matched need: the 2025 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan received only 40 percent of requested funds¹². In February 2026 the UN launched a $2.87 billion plan for the following period¹. Healthcare is severely impacted, with most hospitals out of service¹.

Economy and agriculture

The conflict has devastated the economy. Real GDP contracted by an estimated 29.4 percent in 2023 and a further 14 percent in 2024, one of the steepest contractions in recent history, reflecting destruction of productive capacity in healthcare, education, telecommunications, and trade¹. Government revenues collapsed from 10 percent of GDP in 2022 to below 5 percent in 2024–25, and extreme poverty is estimated to have risen from 48 percent in 2023 to 59 percent in 2025¹. A modest recovery emerged in 2025, with growth estimated at 3.1 percent, driven by the exceptionally low base of the previous two years and the gradual return of displaced people to central and northern states; inflation began declining in April 2025 but remained elevated¹.

Agriculture is the cornerstone of the economy, providing food and income to nearly 65 percent of the population¹³; a World Bank analysis puts dependence on agricultural production at over 80 percent of the population⁸. Three production systems dominate: irrigated agriculture, exemplified by the Al Jazirah Scheme, one of the world's largest irrigation projects at approximately 1 million hectares; semi-mechanized rainfed agriculture across a 6.7-million-hectare belt known as Sudan's granary; and traditional rainfed agriculture spanning 9 million hectares and engaging the majority of farmers¹³. War-time displacement, looting, and shortages of essential inputs have sharply reduced production and strained food supply chains¹.

References

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026