SUDAN - Country Profile & Chronology.

Sudan is the largest and one of the most diverse countries in Africa, home to deserts, mountain ranges, swamps and rain forests. It has emerged from a 21-year civil war between the Arab and mainly Muslim north and the African Animist and Christian south, which has cost the lives of more than 2m people. Southern rebels said they were battling oppression and marginalisation.

After two years of had bargaining, the Khartoum government and the southern rebels - the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) - signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on Jan. 9, 2005. But in October 2007, SPLM and its Government of South Sudan (GoSS) withdrew from the National Unity Cabinet of Khartoum and talks between the leaders of the two sides ended inconclusively (see down18SudanOct29-07).

The current civil war in Sudan's vast western province of Darfur is seen as "one of the worst nightmares in recent history". Sudan has allowed a small African Union (AU) peace-keeping force in Darfur and, until July 2007, has refused to accept a large-scale UN deployment. But a July UNSC resolution to send such a UN force was eventually accepted by Khartoum.

Until the GoSS withdrew earlier in October 2007, President Omar al-Bashir headed a unity government formed after the CPA was signed in early 2005. Under the CPA, an independence referendum in the south was to follow a six-year period of autonomy

The CPA provides for a high degree of autonomy for the south. The region was to share oil revenue equally with the north. But decades of fighting had left the south's infrastructure in tatters. With the return of millions of displaced southerners, there has been a pressing need for reconstruction.

The economic dividends of peace are yet to be felt in the south and its positive effects on the north, long hoped for in Khartoum, are yet to be seen.

Sudan has large areas of cultivatable land, as well as oil, gold and cotton. Its oil reserves are ripe for further exploitation. But while the government and southern rebels inched closer to peace, fighting broke out in Darfur in early 2003 when rebel groups there seeking greater autonomy began an insurrection. The UN says more than 2m people have fled their homes and more than 200,000 have been killed in Darfur.

Pro-government Arab militias, called the Janjaweed, have been accused of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab groups in that region, including mass killings, rape and looting. The conflict has strained relations between Sudan and Chad, to the west. Both countries have accused each other of cross-border incursions. There have been fears that the Darfur conflict could lead to a wider, regional war.

Sudan's name comes from the Arabic "bilad al-sudan", or land of the blacks. Arabic is the official language and Islam is the religion of the state, but the country has a large non-Arabic speaking Africans and non-Muslim population which has rejected attempts by the government in Khartoum to impose Islamic Shari'a law on the country as a whole.

President Bashir has been locked in a power struggle with Hassan al-Turabi, his former Islamist mentor and the main ideologue of Sudan's Islamist government. Since 2001 Turabi has spent periods in detention and has been accused, but not tried, over an alleged coup plot.

Full name: Republic of Sudan; Population: 35 million (UN, 2005); Capital: Khartoum; Area: 2.5m sq km (966,757 sq miles); Major languages: Arabic, Nubian and others African; Major religions: Islam, Christianity and Animism; Life expectancy: 55 years (men), 58 years (women) - according to the UN; Monetary unit: Sudanese dinar; Main exports: Oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and hides, and gum Arabic; GNI per capita: US$640 (World Bank, 2006); Internet domain: .sd; International dialling code: +249; President: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir.

Bashir entered into a power-sharing administration in July 2005 alongside his former enemy, the southern ex-rebel leader Dr John Garang, who has since died. The event was a key stage in the implementation of the January 2005 CPA. Bashir is Sudan's overall leader, but Garang's successor, Salva Kiir, heads an interim administration in the south - the GoSS.

The following are the key persons below President Bashir in charge on the political scene.

First VP: Salva Kiir, head of SPLM and its military wing SPLA, and GoSS.

Vice President: Ali Osman Taha.

Foreign Minister: Lam Akol.

Defence Minister: Abdul-Rahim Muhammad Hussein.

A chronology of key events in Sudan:

1881 - Revolt against the Turco-Egyptian administration.
1899-1955 Sudan is under joint British-Egyptian rule.
1956 - Sudan becomes independent.
1958 - Gen. Abboud's military coup against civilian Govt. elected earlier in 1958.
1962 - Civil war begins in the south, led by the Anya Nya movement.
1964 - October Revolution overthrows Abboud and national Govt. is established.
1969 - Ja'far al-Numairi leads the "May Revolution" military coup.
1971 - Communist Party leaders executed after short-lived coup against Numairi.
1972 - Under Addis Ababa peace pact with Anya Nya, south becomes autonomous.
1978 - Oil is discovered in Bentiu in southern Sudan.
1983 - North-South war begins; President Numairi imposes Shari'a (Islamic law).
1985 - Numairi is deposed by officers; Transitional Military Council rules.
1986 - Coalition Govt. formed after general elections, with Sadeq al-Mahdi as PM.
1988 - Coalition's partner, the Democratic Unionist Party, drafts truce pact with SPLM, but this is not honoured.
1989 - Omar al-Bashir's National Salvation group takes over in military coup.
1993 - Revolution Command Council dissolved; Bashir becomes president; US attack.
1995 - Egyptian President Mubarak survives Sudanese murder bid in Addis Ababa.
1997 - US imposes sanctions, barring American dealings with Sudan.
1998 - US missile attack on Khartoum plant alleging to make chemical weapons for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
1998 - New constitution endorsed by over 96% of voters in referendum.
1999 - Bashir dissolves parliament in power struggle with Speaker Hassan Turabi.
1999 - Sudan begins to export crude oil.
2000 - Decree bars women from working in public places.
2000 - Bashir meets National Democratic Alliance opposition leaders in Asmara.
2000 December: Bashir re-elected to another 5 years in polls boycotted by opposition.
2001 February: Turabi arrested after his Popular National Congress signed MoU with SPLA.
2001 March: WFP struggles to raise funds to feed 3m facing famine.
2001 April: SPLA threaten to hit oil workers brought in to develop vast reserves.
2001 April-May: Police arrest of members of Turabi's Popular National Congress (PNC).
2001 June: Failure of Nairobi peace talks attended by Bashir and John Garang.
2001 September: UN lifts symbolic sanctions imposed in 1996 over 1995 attempt to assassinate Mubarak in Addis Ababa.
2001 October: US President Bush names Sen. John Danforth as special peace envoy.
2001 November: US extends sanctions for another year for terrorism and rights violations.
2001 December: More than 14,500 slaves - mainly blacks from the south - are freed.
2002 January: SPLA joins rival Sudan People's Defence Force in anti-Khartoum campaign.
2002 July 20: Govt. and SPLA sign Machakos peace protocol.
2003 February: Rebels in Darfur rise up against Govt.
2003 October: Turabi released; ban on his party is lifted.
2004 January: Army moves to quell Darfur uprising; hundreds of thousands flee to Chad.
2004 March: UN accuses pro-Govt. Janjaweed of mass killing in Darfur.
2004 - Turabi & other opposition leaders held over alleged coup plot.
2004 May: Govt. & SPLM agree power-sharing protocols as part of a peace deal.
2005 Jan. 9: Govt. & SPLM sign CPA to end war.
2005 March: UNSC authorises sanctions against those who violate ceasefire in Darfur.
2005 April: Int'l donors pledge $4.5 bn in recovery aid for southern Sudan.
2005 June: Govt. & exiled opposition group - National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - sign reconciliation deal allowing NDA into power-sharing Administration; Turabi is freed.
2005 July 9: Garang sworn in as 1st VP; constitution giving autonomy to the south is signed.
2005 Aug. 1: Garang is killed in a plane crash. He is succeeded by Salva Kiir.
2005 September: Power-sharing Govt. is formed in Khartoum.
2005 October: GoSS is formed in the south.
2006 May: Govt. & main Darfur rebel group, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), sign a peace accord. Two smaller rebel groups reject the deal. Darfur fighting continues.
2006 August: Khartoum rejects a UNSC resolution for a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.
2006 October: UN envoy Jan Pronk expelled; AU peace-keeping force arrives.
2007 April: Khartoum says it'll accept a partial UN troop deployment to reinforce AU force.
2007 May: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for minister & Janjaweed leader suspected of Darfur war crimes. President Bush imposes new sanctions.
2007 July: UNSC resolution authorises 26,000-strong force for Darfur.
2007 August-September: Worst floods for decades leave more than 250,000 people homeless.
2007 Oct. 27-28: Darfur peace conference in Sirte, Libya, is shunned by main rebel groups. Darfur rebel groups send mixed message, with some stressing unity with the rest of Sudan while others threatening to split off and create their own country.
2007 October - SPLM accuses Khartoum of failing to honour CPA and suspends its involvement in the national unity Govt.