Islam by country · Africa
Islam in Sudan: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Sudan, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Sudan in the interactive map
History of Islam in Sudan
The Republic of the Sudan has an area of 1,886,068 sq km and its map is presented in Figure 3.1.9. It was occupied by the British in 1898 as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and gained its independence from the UK in 1956, but its southern part seceded as South Sudan (619,745 sq km) in 2011. Islam entered here through the immigration of Muslim Arabs from Egypt and Arabia between the seventh and ninth centuries. Eventually, the following cities came under Muslim control: Dongola (North) in 1350, Soba, the ruined capital of the Nubian kingdom of Alodia in 1504 (just south of the capital Khartoum), Darfur (East) in 1596, Kordofan (South) in 1600.
According to a 1923 estimate, the total population was 2.8 million all of which were Muslim. The 1993 census is the only census that inquired on religious affiliation and it indicated that the Muslim population was 20.5 million or 96.4% of the total population. According to ABS survey data, the percentage of Muslims was 99.25% in 2015. Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims remains constant at 99.25%; then the Muslim population is expected to increase to 84 million by 2050 and 142 million by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Sudan
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 4,522 | 4,522 | 100.00% |
| 2000 | 25,965 | 25,025 | 96.38% |
| 2100 | 141,627 | 140,565 | 99.25% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.