# Central African Republic and Sudan compared

Central African Republic and Sudan side by side: 40 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/caf-vs-sdn
Updated: 2026-08-11 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Central African Republic: 13 August 1960 — Independence from French Equatorial Africa
- Sudan: 1 January 1956 — The Republic of the Sudan becomes independent

## Economy

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $2.8 B | 2024 | $50 B | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $516 | 2024 | $985 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 1.5% | 2024 | -14.0% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 1.5% | 2024 | 138.8% | 2022 |
| Trade openness | 46.4% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5.3 m | 2024 | 50 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 57.7 yrs | 2024 | 66.5 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 44.1% | 2024 | 34.9% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 6.0 | 2024 | 4.3 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 33.9 | 2024 | 23.9 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 34.6 | 2024 | 31.3 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 20.7 | 2024 | 16.5 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 34.9 | 2024 | 28.6 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 27.5 | 2024 | 26.4 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 21.3 | 2024 | 16.3 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 10.7% | 2023 | 2.9% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 0.07 | 2023 | 0.25 | 2017 |
| Under-5 mortality | 89.7 | 2024 | 61.6 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 41.0% | 2024 | 46.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 6.2% | 2024 | — | — |

## Education

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 42.4% | 2019 | 53.5% | 2008 |
| Education spending | 1.8% | 2023 | 2.0% | 2009 |
| Primary enrolment | 96.8% | 2016 | 72.4% | 2019 |
| Secondary enrolment | 15.8% | 2017 | 43.5% | 2019 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 2.8% | 2012 | 15.9% | 2015 |

## Technology

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 13.8% | 2024 | 18.6% | 2017 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 39 | 2022 | 70 | 2022 |
| High-tech exports | 8.3% | 2024 | 2.2% | 2018 |
| R&D spending | — | — | 0.2% | 2005 |

## Geography

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 622,980 km² | 2023 | 1,868,000 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 35.7% | 2023 | 9.6% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 9.1% | 2023 | 60.3% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.1 | 2024 | 0.4 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 90.9% | 2022 | 61.0% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 10.3% | 2021 | 12.8% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 3.3% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 6.6% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 9.5% | 2021 | 2.8% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 17.6% | 2023 | 66.0% | 2023 |

## Military

| Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Sudan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 2.5% | 2024 | 0.9% | 2021 |
| Defense spending | $71 M | 2024 | $375 M | 2021 |
| Armed forces | 10,000 | 2020 | 144,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CAF.md and https://terralore.co/country/SDN.md.

## Entangled histories (0 events)

Neither nation's sourced chronicle names the other — across both archives, no recorded event crosses between them. That is a fact about the two records as they stand, not a gap filled here.

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CAF/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SDN/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Central African Republic and Sudan compared", terralore.co/compare/caf-vs-sdn, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.
