Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir
Prime Minister

(pronounced "oh-MAR hah-SAHN ah-MED al bah-SHEER")

"As soon as we feel that the Sudanese people are capable of making good decisions free from sectarian considerations and party politics, we will relinquish power."

The Republic of the Sudan, historically known as the land of Kush, borders on eight neighboring states and is the largest country in Africa. To the north of Sudan are Egypt and Libya; to the west are Chad and the Central African Republic; to the south are Zaire, Uganda and Kenya; and to Sudan's east are Ethiopia and the Red Sea. Its total area is 2.376 million sq km (917,000 sq mi). The population was estimated to be 37 million in 2001. The unit of currency is the Sudanese pound. Arabic, the official language, is spoken by about half of the population. Nubian and...