Su ‧ dan /sʊˈdæn, -ˈdɑːn/ BrE AmE ( also the Sudan )
a country in northeast Africa, south of Egypt and west of Ethiopia, which is the largest country in Africa. Population: 40,218,455 (2008). Capital: Khartoum. Sinces the 1980s Sudan has suffered from ↑ famine (=serious lack of food) , and there has been a ↑ civil war between the mainly Muslim north of the country and the mainly Christian south. The fighting became even worse after oil was discovered in the south. A separate ↑ conflict broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003. Millions of people had to leave their homes and hundreds of thousands were killed.