Sudan

Sudan​ or ​North Sudan​, officially the ​Republic of the Sudan, ​is a large country in ​North-East Africa​. It is bordered by ​Egypt​ to the north, ​Libya​ to the northwest, ​Chad​ to the west, the ​Central African Republic​ to the southwest, ​South Sudan​ to the south, ​Ethiopia​ to the southeast, ​Eritrea​ to the east, and the ​Red Sea​ to the northeast.

Sudan​ has two official languages. In the 2005 ​constitution of the Republic of Sudan​, the official languages of Sudan were signed in; ​Literary Arabic​ and ​English​, though Sudanese Arabic is the dominating language.

Khartoum​ or ​Khartum​ is the capital city of Sudan. The population of metropolitan Khartoum is growing rapidly and ranges from six to seven million. Its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan and one of the largest in all of Africa. The rural population makes up 65.06% of the nation.

Islam is the predominant religion in Sudan at 90.7% of the population. All denominations of Christianity form 5.4% of the population. The vast majority of ​Muslims in Sudan​ are ​Sunni muslims and​ belong to the ​Maliki​ school of ​Islam​. In September 2020, Sudan constitutionally became a secular state after Sudan’s transitional government agreed to separate religion from the state. This ended 30 years of Islamic rule and Islam as the official religion in the nation. At that time the apostasy laws and public flogging were finally abolished.

Sudan has a population of 43 million (2018 estimate) and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres (728,215 square miles), making it ​Africa’s​ third-largest country. Sudan is also the third largest nation in the ​Arab world​. It was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world by area before the secession of South Sudan in 2011​.