States of Sudan facts for kids

Sudan is a large country in Africa. Like many countries, it is divided into smaller areas to help with its government and organization. These areas are called states. There are 25 states in Sudan.

When Sudan was ruled by the British, these areas were called "provinces." The states today are often based on those old provinces. You'll see the Arabic names for some states in parentheses. Some states that were created after 1994 are marked with a star (*). The numbers next to each state match the map on the right, so you can find them easily.

States of Sudan (see list for legend)

Here is a list of the states in Sudan, grouped by their original provinces:

• Blue Nile Region
  • Al Jazirah (9)
  • Blue Nile/Central
    • Blue Nile (An Nil al Azraq/Al Wustá) (16)
    • Sennar (*) (13)
  • White Nile (An Nil al Abyad) (8)

• Darfur Region
  • North Darfur (Shamal Darfur) (4)
  • South Darfur (Janub Darfur) (14)
  • West Darfur (Gharb Darfur) (11)

• Equatoria Region
  • Bahr al Ghazal
    • Lakes (Al Buhayrat) (23)
    • North Bahr al Ghazal (Shamal Bahr al Ghazal) (18)
    • West Bahr al Ghazal (Gharb Bahr al Ghazal) (17)
    • Warab (*) (21)
  • East Equatoria
    • Central Equatoria (*) (25)
    • East Equatoria (Sharq al Istiwa'iyah) (26)
  • West Equatoria (Gharb al Istiwa'iyah) (24)

• Kassala Region
  • Kassala (Ash Sharqiyah) (7)
  • Al Qadarif (10)
  • Red Sea (Al Bahr al Ahmar) (3)

• Khartoum Region
  • Khartoum (Al Khartum) (6)

• Kurdufan Region
  • North Kurdufan (Shamal Kurdufan) (5)
  • South Kurdufan (Janub Kurdufan) (15)
  • West Kurdufan (Gharb Kurdufan) (12, this state was removed in 2006 and its land was added to North and South Kurdufan)

• Northern Region
  • Northern (Ash Shamaliyah) (1)
  • River Nile (Nahr an Nil) (2)

• Upper Nile Region
  • Jonglei
    • Jonglei (22)
    • Unity (Al Wahdah)(*) (19)
  • Upper Nile (A'ali an Nil) (20)

How Sudan's States Are Governed

Some parts of Sudan have special ways of being governed.

Southern Sudan's Autonomy

The ten southern states used to form an area called Southern Sudan. This area had its own special government. It was an "autonomous region," meaning it had the power to make many of its own decisions. Later, this region became the independent country of South Sudan.

Darfur's Regional Authority

The three states in the Darfur region work together through a group called the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. This group helps to coordinate things between these states.

History of Sudan's Provinces

Sudan's states have changed over time. When Sudan was ruled by both Britain and Egypt, it had eight main areas called mudiriyat or provinces. These provinces became clearly defined by the start of World War II.

Early Provinces

The first eight provinces were:

• Blue Nile
• Darfur
• Equatoria
• Kassala
• Khartoum
• Kurdufan
• Northern
• Upper Nile

In 1948, a new province called Bahr al Ghazal was created. It was separated from Equatoria.

Changes in the 1970s

Many new provinces were created on July 1, 1973:

• Darfur was split into North Darfur and South Darfur.
• Kurdufan was divided into North Kurdufan and South Kurdufan.
• Al Jazirah and White Nile were separated from Blue Nile.
• River Nile was split off from Northern.
• Red Sea was created from Kassala.

More changes happened in 1976:

• Lakes was separated from Bahr al Ghazal.
• Jonglei was split off from Upper Nile.
• Equatoria was divided into East Equatoria and West Equatoria.

After these changes, Sudan had eighteen provinces.

Modern States

In 1991, the government changed the administrative regions again. They created nine federal states, which were similar to the nine provinces that existed from 1948 to 1973.

Then, on February 14, 1994, the government reorganized everything once more. This time, they created twenty-six wilayat, which are what we call states today. Most of these new states were either the old provinces or smaller parts of a province.

In 2005, as part of a new government structure in South Sudan, the state of Bahr al Jabal was renamed Central Equatoria. In 2006, West Kurdufan was split up and its land was added to North Kurdufan and South Kurdufan.

See also

In Spanish: Estados de Sudán para niños