與高適薛據同登慈恩寺浮圖
蘇丹(Sudan)
正式名稱蘇丹共和國（Republic of the Sudan）
非洲北部國家。面積2,503,890平方公里。人口約36,080,000（2001）。首都︰喀土木。穆斯林阿拉伯民族集團居於北部及中部，佔該國人口的2/3，其餘尼羅人及蘇丹人等民族則住在南部地區。語言︰阿拉伯語（官方語）；尚有其他一百多種語言。宗教︰伊斯蘭教（國教），傳統宗教和基督徒。貨幣︰蘇丹第納爾（Sd）。蘇丹為非洲最大國家，包含了一廣闊的平原，其北部是撒哈拉沙漠，西部為沙丘，中南部為雨量極少的灌木帶，南部則有許多沼澤和熱帶雨林。尼羅河流貫全國。也野生動物有獅、豹、大象、長頸鹿和斑馬。為開發中的混合經濟，以農業為主。有全世界最大的灌溉計畫，由青尼羅河和白尼羅河供給農田用水。主要經濟作物有棉花、花生和芝麻；畜牧業亦重要。工業包括了食品加工和棉紡織。現由伊斯蘭教軍政府統治。
證據表明，蘇丹有人居住的歷史可追溯到幾萬年以前。從西元前4千紀開始，努比亞（現在的蘇丹北部）週期性地處在埃及人的統治下。西元前11世紀到西元4世紀，它是庫施王國的一部分。在6世紀期間，基督教的傳教士們轉變了蘇丹的三個主要王國；這幾個黑色的基督教王國與他們在埃及的穆斯林阿拉伯鄰居們共處了數百年，直到13～15世紀，阿拉伯移民的流入才使它們崩潰。1874年埃及征服了蘇丹的全部，鼓勵了英國人干預這個地區；這引起了穆斯林的反對，導致馬赫迪的起義，1885年他佔領了喀土木，在蘇丹建立起一個神權政治國家，直到1898年他的軍隊被英軍打敗。英國人統治了這個國家，總體上與埃及建立夥伴關係，直到1956年蘇丹實現獨立。此後，這個國家就在無效的國會政府與不穩定的軍事統治之間搖擺起伏。南方的非穆斯林人口反抗北方的由穆斯林控制的政府，導致近幾年來的饑荒以及約有四百萬人流離失所。
English version：
Sudan
Nation,North Africa. Area: 966,757 sq mi (2,890 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 32,594,000. Capital: Khartoum. Muslim Arab ethnic groups live in the northern and central two-thirds of the country,while Nilotic and Sudanic peoples live in the south. Languages: Arabic (official); 100 others spoken. Religions: Islam (official),animism,Christianity. Currency: Sudanese dinar. The largest country in Africa,the Sudan encompasses an immense plain with the Sahara desert in the north,sand dunes in the west,semiarid shrub lands in the southern central belt,and enormous swamps and tropical rain forests in the south. The Nile River flows the entire length of the country. Wildlife includes lion,leopard,elephant,giraffe,and zebra. It has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture. One of the largest irrigation projects in the world provides water to farms between the White and Blue Niles. Chief cash crops are cotton,peanuts,and sesame; livestock is also important. Major industries include food processing and cotton-ginning. It is ruled by an Islamic military regime. Evidence of inhabitation in the Sudan dates back tens of thousands of years. From the end of the 4th millennium BC,Nubia (now northern Sudan) periodically came under Egyptian rule,and it was part of the kingdom of Cush from the 11th century BC to the 4th century AD. Christian missionaries converted the Sudan's three principal kingdoms during the 6th century AD; these black Christian kingdoms coexisted with their Muslim Arab neighbors in Egypt for centuries,until the influx of Arab immigrants brought about their collapse in the 13th-15th century. Egypt had conquered all of the Sudan by 1874,and encouraged British interference in the region; this aroused Muslim opposition and led to the revolt of al-Mahdi,who captured Khartoum in 1885 and established a Muslim theocracy in the Sudan that lasted until 1898,when his forces were defeated by the British. The British ruled the country,generally in partnership with Egypt,until the Sudan achieved independence in 1956. Since then the country has fluctuated between ineffective parliamentary government and unstable military rule. The non-Muslim population of the south has engaged in ongoing rebellion against the Muslim-controlled government of the north,leading to famines and the displacement of some 4 million people in recent years.