Sudan was proclaimed a sovereign independent Republic on January 1, 1956.

Sudan has oil, copper, gold, iron, salt and other untapped mineral resources. The country is the world’s principal source of gum-arabic. The chief grain crop is dura (great millet), the country’s staple food. Petroleum oil is the principal export. Other important products are sesame, senna leaves and pods, groundnuts, dates, hides and skins, mahogany, dom nuts (vegetable ivory), chilies, semn (ghee), melon-seeds, beans, corn, trochus and mother of pearl shell, shea nuts, salt, ivory and gold.

Following a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan held in January 2011, South Sudan became an independent country on July 9, 2011. The protection of trademarks registered in Sudan does not extend to South Sudan.