Empty highway road in a desert with a mountain in the distance

Sudan

Time Difference: EST + 5 hours   Current Time and Date in Sudan
Currency: Currency Converter  – Sudanese Pound SDG
Travel Advisory : State Department Report Sudan
US Embassy in Sudan: sudan.usembassy.gov

Republic of the Sudan or North Sudan is state in North Africa bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, and Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. Internally, the Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. The population of Sudan is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula.

Health: CDC Sudan
What to Pack
Weather: Sudan Weather
Communications: Dial 011 followed by country code 249

Travel Requirements 

  • Passport
  •  Visa required for all US Passport Holders, if you are not a US Passport holder, please consult the embassy in your region.
  • Proof of immunization (Yellow Fever)

Diplomatic Missions

Sudan  Embassy in the U.S.
Sudan Embassy in Washington DC.
Sudan Consulate London
Sudan Consulate in the UK

CLIMATE

Warm season:  April to July average high temperature above 103°F.
Cold season: December to January average high temperature below 89°F.
Language: Arabic is the official language; English is widely spoken

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe

The Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, a semi-desert landscape between the Nile and Atbara rivers, was the heartland of the Kingdom of Kush, a major power from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The property consists of the royal city of the Kushite kings at Meroe, near the River Nile, the nearby religious site of Naqa and Musawwarat es Sufra. It was the seat of the rulers who occupied Egypt for close to a century and features, among other vestiges, pyramids, temples and domestic buildings as well as major installations connected to water management. Their vast empire extended from the Mediterranean to the heart of Africa, and the property testifies to the exchange between the art, architectures, religions and languages of both regions.

Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region

These five archaeological sites, stretching over more than 60 km in the Nile valley, are testimony to the Napatan (900 to 270 BC) and Meroitic (270 BC to 350 AD) cultures, of the second kingdom of Kush. Tombs, with and without pyramids, temples, living complexes and palaces, are to be found on the site. Since Antiquity, the hill of Gebel Barkal has been strongly associated with religious traditions and folklore. The largest temples are still considered by the local people as sacred places.

Sites of Interest

Suakin was a very important port on the Red Sea during the Middle Age and the Ottoman Empire. It contains very fine houses and Mosques, some of them are partially preserved to the 2nd floor.

Kerma was the capital of country during the period known as “Kerma Culture” (3rd millenium – 2nd millenium B.C.). It contains the remains of an old town marked by unique building (temple) of mud brick preserved to the height of 19m, known locally as the “Western Deffufa”. In addition to a vast cemetery with funerary chapel of mud brick (the Eastern Deffufa).

Old Dongola was the capital of the Christian Kingdom of Makouria (7th – 14th century). The site contains many churches, places, houses and mosques. The walls of some buildings are decorated with very fine frescoes.