It has emerged from a 21-year civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the Animist and Christian south which is said to have cost the lives of 1.5 million people. After two years of bargaining the government and rebels signed a comprehensive peace deal in January 2005.

OVERVIEW

The accord provides for a high degree of autonomy for the south, where rebels say they have been battling oppression and marginalisation. The region will also share oil revenue equally with the north. But decades of fighting have left the infrastructure in tatters.

The economic dividends of peace could be great. Sudan has large areas of cultivatable land, as well as gold and cotton. Its oil reserves are ripe for further exploitation.

AT A GLANCE Government and southern rebels signed a deal to end Africa's longest-running civil war in January 2005 A power-sharing constitution was signed in July 2005 An independence referendum in the south will be held after a six-year period of autonomy A separate, ongoing conflict in Darfur region has been described by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian crisis

But while the government and southern rebels inched closer to peace, fighting broke out in the western region of Darfur in early 2003 when rebels seeking greater autonomy began an insurrection.

More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes and tens of thousands of people have been killed. Pro-government Arab militias are accused of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab groups in the region.

Sudan's name comes from the Arabic "bilad al-sudan", or land of the blacks. Arabic is the official language and Islam is the religion of the state, but the country has a large non-Arabic speaking and non-Muslim population which has rejected attempts by the government in Khartoum to impose Islamic Sharia law on the country as a whole.

President Omar al-Bashir has been locked in a power struggle with Hassan al-Turabi, his former mentor and the main ideologue of Sudan's Islamist government. Since 2001 Mr Turabi has spent periods in detention and has been accused, but not tried, over an alleged coup plot.

FACTS

• Population: 35 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Khartoum
• Area: 2.5 million sq km (966,757 sq miles)
• Major languages: Arabic; Nubian, others
• Major religions: Islam, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 55 years (men), 58 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 dinar = 10 Sudanese pounds
• Main exports: Oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and hides, gum arabic
• GNI per capita: US $460 (World Bank, 2005)
• Internet domain: .sd
• International dialling code: +249

LEADERS

President: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

Omar al-Bashir entered into a power-sharing administration in July 2005 alongside his former enemy, the southern ex-rebel leader John Garang, who has since died. The event marked an important step in the implementation of the January 2005 peace deal.

Mr Bashir remains the overall leader of Sudan, but Mr Garang's successor, Salva Kiir, heads an interim administration in southern Sudan. A referendum on possible secession will be held in the region at the end of a six-year period.

Military man Omar al-Bashir led an Islamist-backed coup

Omar al-Bashir took power in the June 1989 military coup against the elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

He dissolved parliament, banned political parties and set up and chaired the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, which ruled through a civilian government.

Mr Bashir formed an alliance with Hassan al-Turabi, the leader of the National lslamic Front, who became the regime's ideologue and is thought to be behind the introduction of Sharia (Islamic law) in the north in 1991. In 1993 Mr Bashir dissolved the Revolutionary Command for National Salvation, concentrating power in his own hands.

Mr Bashir was elected president in 1996, and Hassan al-Turabi became speaker of parliament. A new constitution was drawn up and in 1999 opposition groups were allowed to operate on a limited basis.

But in late 1999 Mr Bashir dissolved parliament and declared a state of emergency. The move followed attempts by Mr Turabi to give parliament the power to remove the president and to re-establish the post of prime minister. Hassan al-Turabi was later imprisoned, accused of treason after signing a deal with separatist rebels in the south.

Mr Bashir was elected for a second five-year term in 2000. Supporters of the National Congress Party filled the parliament. The opposition boycotted the poll, accusing Mr Bashir of vote-rigging.

Born in 1944 into a farming family of modest means, Omar al-Bashir joined the army as a young man and rose quickly through the ranks. He fought in the Egyptian army in the 1973 war with Israel and led the military campaign against rebels in southern Sudan.