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Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. The world's longest river, the Nile, divides the country between east and west sides.

Sudan is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 3000 BC. The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity, which is intertwined with the history of Egypt, with which it was united politically over several periods. After gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1956, Sudan suffered a civil war, lasting 17 years, subsequently followed by ethnic, religious, and economic conflicts between the Northern Sudanese (with Arab and Nubian roots), and the Christian and animist Nilotes of Southern Sudan. Thus this led to a second civil war in 1983, and due to continuing political and military struggles, Sudan was seized in a bloodless coup d'etat by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who thereafter proclaimed himself President of Sudan, achieved great economic growth by implementing macroeconomic reforms and finally ended the civil war in 2005 by adopting a new constitution with rebel groups in the south. Rich of natural resources such as petroleum and crude oil, Sudan's economy is amongst the fastest growing in the world.

However, after introducing an Islamic legal code on the national level, establishing the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) as the only political party and supporting the usage of recruited Arab militias in guerrilla warfare, such as in the ongoing Darfur conflict, al-Bashir's presidency has been marked by thousands of people being displaced and killed, in what has been described as a genocide. Though officially a presidential representative democratic republic, Sudan is widely considered to be controlled by an authoritarian regime, which has led to armed conflict with Chad, obstructed humanitarian assistance to the civilian population and has even led to war crimes charges being issued against members of the government. This has been followed by severe economic sanctions being put on the country due to alleged ties with Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda.

A member of the United Nations, Sudan also maintains membership with the AU, LAS, OIC and NAM, as well as serving as an observer in WTO. Its capital is Khartoum, which serves as the political, cultural and commercial center of the nation, while Omdurman remains the largest city. Among Sudan's population of 42 million people, Sunni islam is the official and largest religion, while Arabic and English are the official languages.