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→People: religion
*Health: Infant mortality rate--64/1,000. Life expectancy--58.5 yrs.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--64/1,000. Life expectancy--58.5 yrs.
*Work force: Agriculture--80%; industry and commerce--7%; government--13%.
*Work force: Agriculture--80%; industry and commerce--7%; government--13%.
===Religion===
An estimated 70% of the population is Muslim. Islam predominates in the north. Almost all Muslims are Sunni, although there are significant distinctions between followers of different Sunni traditions, particularly among Sufi brotherhoods.
An estimated 25% of the population holds traditional indigenous beliefs (animism), which are prevalent in rural areas throughout the country. Some animists have been baptized but do not identify themselves as Christians, or they combine Christian and animist practices.
Christians are the third largest religious group, traditionally concentrated in the south and the Nuba Mountains. Widespread displacement and migration during the long civil war increased the population of Christians living in the north. While many Christians have returned to the south, Khartoum still has a significant Christian population. The Roman Catholic Church of Sudan and the Episcopal Churches of Sudan estimate they have six million and five million baptized followers, respectively, although active churchgoers are far fewer.
There are very small but long-established groups of Orthodox Christians in Khartoum and other northern cities, including Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox. There are also Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox communities in Khartoum and the east, largely made up of refugees and migrants. Other Christian groups with smaller followings include the Africa Inland Church, Armenian (Apostolic) Church, Sudan Church of Christ, Sudan Interior Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Sudan Pentecostal Church, Sudan Evangelical Presbyterian Church (in the north), Presbyterian Church of the Sudan (in the south), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Sudan.
Religion plays a prominent role in the complex system of political alliances. Northern Muslims have dominated the political and economic system since independence in 1956. Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the GNU has appointed both Muslims and Christians to prominent executive positions.
The dominant political power in Sudan, the National Congress Party (NCP), draws its support from conservative Arab Muslims in the north. Its previous incarnation, the National Islamic Front, ruled from 1989 to 1998. Northern opposition parties draw their support from different Sufi brotherhoods: the Umma Party is closely connected with Arab followers of the Ansar sect, and the Democratic Unionist Party with the Khatmia sect. Opposition parties typically include non-Arab Muslims from the north, east, and Darfur.
Following the civil war, the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) became the dominant political power in the south, and is the main coalition partner with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in the GNU. The SPLM draws its support from Southern Christians, but regularly engages with Muslim opposition parties and rebel groups in Darfur and the east.
The Government favored Muslims over Christians in the north in part by funding the construction of mosques but not churches. Many southern Christians living in the north are economic migrants, and due to many factors, they suffer from social, educational, and job discrimination.
The Government prevents foreigners from entering the country expressly for Christian missionary work, but it did permit foreign Christian religious leaders to enter in support of their local congregations. The Humanitarian Affairs Committee routinely expells foreign workers of international aid organizations, although several U.S.-based Christian aid organizations maintain large operations throughout the north.
In November 2007 a British national teaching at a Christian school in Khartoum was held briefly and threatened with imprisonment and corporal punishment for acceding to her students' suggestion to name a class teddy bear after the Prophet Muhammad. Some government officials organized a street protest against the Briton, but President Bashir pardoned her, and several days after the incident she was permitted to depart the country.
In July 2007 a Catholic priest was jailed and held without charges for 3 days in connection with an investigation regarding a Khartoum woman who had planned to convert to Christianity. The priest was questioned about the woman's disappearance until the woman reported she had run away from home.
The ongoing conflict in [[Darfur]] between the government-backed Arab Muslim militias (janjaweed) and non-Arab Muslim rebels does not center on religious differences but rather on political, economic, and ethnic issues. The United States declared the situation in Darfur a [[genocide]] in September 2004.
Although there was no evidence of forced conversions in 2007, there is considerable social pressure on non-Muslims in the North to convert to Islam. Muslims in the north who express an interest in Christianity or convert to Christianity faced severe social pressure to recant.
Some universities continue to encourage students to pressure women to wear headscarves to classes, although social pressure for women to wear headscarves in public in the north has decreased overall.
==Government and Political Conditions==
==Government and Political Conditions==