Sudan boasts three deserts-the Sahara, Libyan, and Nubia. Surrounding the rich Nile valley are large, fertile, rainy areas with fields, pasture, and forest.
Unemployment is high.
The Nubians became Coptic Christians in the 6th century, but most converted to Islam after the Arab conquests in the 15th century. From 1896 to 1956, Sudan was under joint Egyptian and British control after which it was granted independence. A war of independence between the south and north erupted in the 1980s and continues today. At least 1.5 million people have been killed.