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Sudan’s area to reduce by quarter after south Sudan cessation

04 July 2011 23:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Sudanese General Area Authority on Monday announced that Sudan’s total area would reduce by a quarter after separation of south Sudan on July 9, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Sudan’s total area will reduce from 2,500,000 square km to 1, 881,000 square km, i.e. around 25 percent, which is south Sudan’s area," said Abdalla Al-Sadiq, Director of Sudanese General Area Authority at a joint press conference with Sudanese Minister of Information Kamal Obaid here Monday.

He added that the number of Sudan’s neighboring countries has reduced from 9 to 7 countries where Sudan no longer has borders with each of Uganda, Kenya and Congo.

He further explained that the border line between Sudan and Ethiopia has reduced from 1605 km to 725 km and with Central African Republic from 1070 km to 380 km, adding that the country’s border lines with each of Chad (1300 km), Libya (380 km), Egypt ( 1280 km) and Eritrea (605 km) have remained as they were.

"The border line with south Sudan remains the longest as it amounts to more than 2,000 km," said Al-Sadiq.

He explained that Sudan’s population, according to the new statistics, amounted to 33,419,625 people, adding that the arable agricultural lands remained as they were -- 2 million feddans.

He stressed that the basic new information on Sudan’s area were based on the borders of 1956 under the current outstanding issue of border demarcation between north and south Sudan.

North and south Sudan have not yet resolved five border points including Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas.

The joint Border Demarcation Committee of the two parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), has failed to demark the borders despite the two sides’ agreement on around 80 percent of the total borders.

South Sudan is expected to officially be declared independent on July 9 according to the results of the referendum on self- determination, conducted on Jan. 9, 2011 as stipulated by the CPA, inked between north and south Sudan in 2005 where about 98 percent of the southerners voted for independence.