Roughly the size of Western Europe, Sudan is the largest country in Africa. Geographically and politically complex, it has experienced decades of conflict since achieving independence from Anglo–Egyptian rule in 1956.
The Arab-oriented north contains most of Sudan’s people (mainly Arabic-speaking Muslims), while Christians and animists, who speak a variety of traditional languages, populate the south. In 1978, oil was found in the south – a source of conflict ever since.
After independence, Sudan plunged into two prolonged periods of civil war. By the time the second phase came to an end in 2005, up to 2 million people had died.
Meanwhile, in 2003, brutal violence erupted in Darfur, western Sudan. Some 2.7 million people have been displaced and around 300,000 have died – mostly from disease.
In January 2011, a referendum took place in southern Sudan – one of the conditions of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 – voting on the issue of independence from the north. An overwhelming majority of people voted to secede.