Sudan

American  

[soo-dan] / suˈdæn /

noun

1. a region in North Africa, south of the Sahara and Libyan Deserts, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

2. Formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Also called North Sudan. Republic of the Sudan, a republic in northeastern Africa, south of Egypt and bordering on the Red Sea: a former condominium of Egypt and Great Britain. 728,215 square miles (1,886,068 square kilometers). Khartoum.

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Sudan British  

/ suːˈdɑːn, -ˈdæn /

noun

1. Former name (1899–1956): Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. French name: Soudan. a republic in NE Africa, on the Red Sea: conquered by Mehemet Ali of Egypt (1820–22) and made an Anglo-Egyptian condominium in 1899 after joint forces defeated the Mahdist revolt; became a republic in 1956; a lengthy civil war between separatists in the mainly Christian south and the government resulted in independence for South Sudan following a referendum in 2011. It consists mainly of a plateau, with the Nubian Desert in the north. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: Muslim; there are Christian and animist minorities. Currency: Sudanese pound or Sudani (replacing the Sudanese dinar in 2007). Capital: Khartoum. Pop: 34 847 910 (2013 est). Area: 1 861 484 sq km (718 723 sq miles)

2. a region stretching across Africa south of the Sahara and north of the tropical zone: inhabited chiefly by Negroid tribes rather than Arabs

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Sudan Cultural  

1. Republic in northeastern Africa, bordered on the north by Egypt (see also Egypt); on the east by the Red Sea and Ethiopia; on the south by Kenya, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of Congo; and on the west by the Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. Its capital is Khartoum, and its largest city is Omdurman.

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Discover More

Sudan was under the joint rule of Britain and Egypt (though Britain exercised actual control) from 1899 to 1956.

Recently, it has been plagued by famine and civil war.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Sudan

Nairobi, a city of nearly six million residents, is a major transit point for trade with landlocked East African economies, including Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, and serves as a hub for humanitarian organizations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

When it was first formed in 2015, the Saudi-led coalition consisted of nine nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain along with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Senegal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

Considerable progress has been made toward vaccines and other medical countermeasures for the Ebola, Sudan and Marburg viruses.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Sara Kahsai grew up in Sudan but moved to Birmingham, England, in 2022 after a marrying a bus driver from the city.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

In 1979, reports reached the C.D.C. that Ebola had come out of hiding and was burning once again in southern Sudan, in the same places where it had first appeared, in 1976.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston