World Factbook
Sudan
Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
land
1,731,671 sq km
water
129,813 sq km
total
1,861,484 sq km
Climate
hot and dry; arid desert; rainy season varies by region (April to November)
Terrain
generally flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north
Land use
other
27.7% (2023 est.)
forest
12% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
60.3% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 11.2% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0.1% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 49% (2023 est.)
Location
north-eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
Coastline
853 km
Elevation
lowest point
Red Sea 0 m
highest point
Jabal Marrah 3,042 m
mean elevation
568 m
Irrigated land
15,504 sq km (2019)
Major aquifers
Nubian Aquifer System, Sudd Basin (Umm Ruwaba Aquifer)
Map references
Africa
Land boundaries
note
note: Sudan-South Sudan boundary represents 1 January 1956 alignment; final alignment pending negotiations and demarcation; final sovereignty status of Abyei region pending negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan
total
6,819 km
border countries
Central African Republic 174 km; Chad 1,403 km; Egypt 1,276 km; Eritrea 682 km; Ethiopia 744 km; Libya 382 km; South Sudan 2,158 km
Maritime claims
contiguous zone
18 nm
territorial sea
12 nm
continental shelf
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Natural hazards
dust storms and periodic persistent droughts
Geography - note
the Nile is Sudan's primary water source; its major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, meet at Khartoum to form the River Nile, which flows northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea
Natural resources
petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold; hydropower
Area - comparative
slightly less than one-fifth the size of the US
Geographic coordinates
15 00 N, 30 00 E
Population distribution
with the exception of a ribbon of settlement that corresponds to the banks of the Nile, northern Sudan is sparsely populated; sizeable areas of population are found around Khartoum, southeast between the Blue and White Nile Rivers, and throughout South Darfur, as shown on this population distribution map
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Atlantic Ocean drainage
(Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage
Lake Chad (2,497,738 sq km)
Major rivers (by length in km)
An Nīl (Nile) (shared with Rwanda [s], Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, and Egypt [m]) - 6,650 km; Blue Nile river mouth (shared with Ethiopia [s]) - 1,600 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth