Sudans

Sudans is not a standard noun in English. It occasionally appears as an informal plural of Sudan or as a truncation in scattered historical or geographical writings. In contemporary usage, the country is referred to as Sudan, and people from the country are described as Sudanese. The term Sudans may also occur in discussions involving multiple places named Sudan in old maps or in broader regional descriptions, but such usage is uncommon and often avoided in formal writing.

Sudan, the country most commonly associated with the term, is located in Northeast Africa. It is 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 and Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. The capital and largest city is Khartoum. Official language is Arabic, with English widely used in government and education; numerous local languages are spoken across its diverse population. The modern state emerged from a long history that includes ancient Nubia, various sultanates, and colonial rule as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, gaining independence in 1956. In 2011, South Sudan separated, altering maps, demographics, and oil production. The economy has leaned on petroleum, agriculture, and increasingly services, but governance challenges, conflict, and humanitarian needs have shaped recent development.

In addition to the country sense, Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanense) is a forage crop used for grazing and hay in warm climates. The term al-Sudan appears in Arabic to denote the broader historical region associated with the Nile and Sahel and is not identical to the modern nation.