A Few Facts About Sudan

SOURCE: WORLD VISION

According to the most recent figures available (from the 1998 census), less than 800,000 of Sudan's 34.5 million people are 65 or over, while 15.5 million are 14 or younger.

Some 95,000 Sudanese children under the age of five died last year as a result of preventable diseases in southern Sudan.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa; roughly ten times the size of the United Kingdom.

Since 1991, Sudan's education system has included two years of pre-school, eight years of elementary school and three years of secondary school.

A girl born in southern Sudan has a better chance of dying during pregnancy or childbirth than of completing primary school.

About 400 BC, the ox-driven water wheel was introduced to the Sudan. It still plays a vital role in the country's economy.

Sudan celebrated its independence from British rule on January 1, 1956.

The Sudan Crisis "is the most dramatic race against the clock anywhere in the world at the moment." - U.N. official