\n Sudan has been shattered by decades of conflict and ruled for nearly 30 years by Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted internationally for genocide.\n<\/p>\n
\n Here is some background about the large partly desert African nation as it marks a month of anti-government protests.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Bashir in power since 1989 -\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan became independent in 1956 after a period of joint rule by Britain and Egypt.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since 1989 it has been led by Bashir, a career soldier who swept to power in a military coup backed by Islamists.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was elected president in 2010 and 2015 in votes boycotted by the opposition.\n<\/p>\n
\n Protests broke out in 2013 after petrol prices rocketed by more than 60 percent. Security forces killed scores of people.\n<\/p>\n
\n Demonstrations against food price hikes erupted in early 2018 and again in December after the cost of bread tripled.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan has a mainly Muslim population of 40.5 million (World Bank, 2017), with Arabic the official language and Islamic Sharia law in force since 1983.\n<\/p>\n
\n - South Sudan breaks away -\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan endured a first civil war from 1955 to 1972, while a second -- between northern and southern rebels -- lasted from 1983 to 2005.\n<\/p>\n
\n Millions died in the conflicts.\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2005, Khartoum signed a peace treaty with the southern rebels granting the south autonomy pending a referendum on independence in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
\n South Sudan proclaimed its independence in July 2011, six months after voting by 99 percent to secede from the north in the referendum.\n<\/p>\n
\n The split removed roughly a quarter of Sudan's territory. Before then it had been Africa's largest country.\n<\/p>\n
\n In early 2012 relations with South Sudan deteriorated, their armies clashing in oil-rich border zones.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Devastating Darfur -\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2003 a conflict emerged in Sudan's vast arid western region of Darfur.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rebels revolted against alleged political and economic marginalisation of the region's black ethnic groups by the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.\n<\/p>\n
\n Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed militia, blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.\n<\/p>\n
\n The violence, which has significantly dropped in recent years, resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced, many living sprawling semi-permanent camps.\n<\/p>\n
\n The International Criminal Court has issued two arrest warrants for Bashir, as head of state, for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, which he denies.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Battered economy -\n<\/p>\n
\n The 2011 secession of South Sudan hit the Sudanese economy badly as it lost around three-quarters of its oil reserves and most of its revenues from the resource.\n<\/p>\n
\n The country also suffered under a US economic embargo imposed in 1997 over its alleged backing of radical Islamist groups and the Darfur conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was lifted in 2017, but Sudan remains on a US blacklist of state terror sponsors, deterring investors.\n<\/p>\n
\n Inflation runs at nearly 70 percent and several towns face shortages of bread and petrol.\n<\/p>\n
\n Agriculture and livestock farming represent 35-40 percent of Sudan's gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.\n<\/p>\n
\n It is one of the world's most impoverished countries, ranked at 167 out of 189 on the UNDP's Human Development Index (2018), which compares longevity, education and per capita income.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Ancient treasures -\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's ancient civilisations built more pyramids than the Egyptians, but they remain largely unexplored.\n<\/p>\n
\n The archaeological site of the Island of Meroe, 220 kilometres (136 miles) north of Khartoum, is classed on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was the heartland of the Kingdom of Kush, a major power from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD, UNESCO says on its website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sudan has been shattered by decades of conflict and ruled for nearly 30 years by Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted internationally for genocide. Here is some background about the large partly desert African nation as it marks a month of anti-government protests. - Bashir in power since 1989 - Sudan became independent in 1956 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-40039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n