SDD

$NA

Currency (code):

Sudanese pounds (SDG)

Currency code:

Exchange rates:

Sudanese pounds (SDG) per US dollar - 2.06 (2007), 2.172 (2006), 2.4361 (2005), 2.5791 (2004), 2.6098 (2003) note: in October 2007 Sudan redenominated its currency by transforming 100 units of Sudanese dinar into one unit of Sudanese pound

Communications
Sudan

Telephones - main lines in use:

345,200 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

7.464 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 249; linked to international submarine cable Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Arabsat (2000)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

7.55 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

3 (1997)

Televisions:

2.38 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.sd

Internet hosts:

33 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

2 (2002)

Internet users:

1.5 million (2007)

Transportation
Sudan

Airports:

101 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 16 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 85 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 37 under 914 m: 27 (2007)

Heliports:

4 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 156 km; oil 4,070 km; refined products 1,613 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 5,978 km narrow gauge: 4,578 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge for cotton plantations (2006)

Roadways:

total: 11,900 km paved: 4,320 km unpaved: 7,580 km (2000)

Waterways:

4,068 km (1,723 km open year round on White and Blue Nile rivers) (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 3 by type: cargo 2, carrier 1 (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Port Sudan

Military
Sudan

Military branches:

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF): Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Forces; Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA): Land Forces (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18-30 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year service obligation (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 9,639,923 females age 16-49: 9,321,106 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,586,468 females age 16-49: 5,678,427 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 488,679 female: 469,547 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

3% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Sudan

Disputes - international:

the effects of Sudan's almost constant ethnic and rebel militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of the neighboring states; as of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which includes 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces; Sudan, in turn, hosted about 116,000 Eritreans, 20,000 Chadians, and smaller numbers of Ethiopians, Ugandans, Central Africans, and Congolese as refugees; in February 2006, Sudan and DROC signed an agreement to repatriate 13,300 Sudanese and 6,800 Congolese; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia proceed slowly due to civil and ethnic fighting in eastern Sudan; the boundary that separates Kenya and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times; while Sudan claims to administer the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel; both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s, and Egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area; periodic violent skirmishes with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 157,220 (Eritrea); 25,023 (Chad); 11,009 (Ethiopia); 7,895 (Uganda); 5,023 (Central African Republic) IDPs: 5.3 - 6.2 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Sudan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked internally for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; Sudan is also a transit and destination country for Ethiopian women trafficked abroad for domestic servitude; Sudanese women and girls are trafficked within the country, as well as possibly to Middle Eastern countries for domestic servitude; the terrorist rebel organization, Lord's Resistance Army, continues to harbor small numbers of Sudanese and Ugandan children in the southern part of the country for use as cooks, porters, and combatants; some of these children are also trafficked across borders into Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; militia groups in Darfur, some of which are linked to the government, abduct women for short periods of forced labor and to perpetrate sexual violence; during the two decades-long north-south civil war, thousands of Dinka women and children were abducted and subsequently enslaved by members of the Missiriya and Rezeigat tribes; while there have been no known new abductions of Dinka by members of Baggara tribes in the last few years, inter-tribal abductions continue in southern Sudan tier rating: Tier 3 - Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; combating human trafficking through law enforcement or prevention measures was not a priority for the government in 2007 (2008)

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Suriname

Introduction
Suriname

Background:

First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party New Front coalition - returned to power in 1991 and has ruled since; the coalition expanded to eight parties in 2005.

Geography
Suriname

Location:

Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
French Guiana and Guyana

Geographic coordinates: