| Sudanese States الولايات السودانية (Arabic) | |
| Category: | Federated state |
| Territory: | Republic of the Sudan |
| Current Number: | 18 states |
| Population Range: | 832,112 (Blue Nile) – 5,274,371 (Khartoum) |
| Area Range: | 8549order=flipNaNorder=flip (Khartoum) – 134659order=flipNaNorder=flip (Northern) |
| Government: | State government |
| Subdivision: | Districts |
Below is a list of the 18 states of the Sudan (Arabic names are in parentheses). Prior to 9 July 2011, the Republic of the Sudan was composed of 25 states. The ten southern states now form part of the independent country of South Sudan. Two additional states were created in 2012 within the Darfur region, and one in 2013 in Kordofan, bringing the total to 18.
The following 18 states form the territory of the Republic of the Sudan:
| Number on map | Location | Seal | State name | ISO 3166-2 code | Capital | Area in km2 (sq mi) | Population (2018)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Arabic | ||||||||
| 1 | Khartoum | Arabic: ولاية الخرطوم|rtl=yes | KH | Khartoum | 22142abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 7,993,900 | |||
| 2 | North Kordofan | Arabic: شمال كردفان|rtl=yes | KN | el-Obeid | 185302abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 3,174,029 | |||
| 3 | Northern | Arabic: الشمالية|rtl=yes | NO | Dongola | 348765abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 936,255 | |||
| 4 | Kassala | Arabic: كسلا|rtl=yes | KA | Kassala | 52949abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[2] | 2,519,071 | |||
| 5 | Blue Nile | Arabic: النيل الأزرق|rtl=yes | NB | ad-Damazin | 45844abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 1,108,391 | |||
| 6 | North Darfur | Arabic: شمال دارفور|rtl=yes | DN | al-Fashir | 296420abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 2,304,950 | |||
| 7 | South Darfur | Arabic: جنوب دارفور|rtl=yes | DS | Nyala | 81000abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[3] | 5,353,025 | |||
| 8 | South Kordofan | Arabic: جنوب كردفان|rtl=yes | KS | Kadugli | 158355abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 2,107,623 | |||
| 9 | Gezira | Arabic: الجزيرة|rtl=yes | GZ | Wad Madani | 27549abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 5,096,920 | |||
| 10 | White Nile | Arabic: النيل الأبيض|rtl=yes | NW | Rabak | 39701abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 2,493,880 | |||
| 11 | River Nile | Arabic: نهر النيل|rtl=yes | NR | ad-Damir | 122123abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 1,511,442 | |||
| 12 | Red Sea | Arabic: البحر الأحمر|rtl=yes | RS | Port Sudan | 218887abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 1,482,053 | |||
| 13 | al Qadarif | Arabic: القضارف|rtl=yes | GD | el-Gadarif | 75263abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[4] | 2,208,385 | |||
| 14 | Sennar | Arabic: سنار|rtl=yes | SI | Singa | 37844abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 1,918,692 | |||
| 15 | West Darfur | Arabic: غرب دارفور|rtl=yes | DW | el Geneina | 23550abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[5] | 1,775,945 | |||
| 16 | Central Darfur | Arabic: وسط دارفور|rtl=yes | DC | Zalingei | 46729abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[6] | 2,499,000 | |||
| 17 | East Darfur | Arabic: شرق دارفور|rtl=yes | DE | Ed Daein | 52867abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit[7] | 1,587,200 | |||
| 18 | West Kordofan | Arabic: غرب كردفان|rtl=yes | GK | al-Fulah | 111373abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 1,945,450 (2014)[8] |
In addition to the states, there also exist regional administrative bodies established by peace agreements between the central government and rebel groups:
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan had eight mudiriyat, or provinces, which were ambiguous when created but became well defined by the beginning of World War II. The eight provinces were: Blue Nile, Darfur, Equatoria, Kassala, Khartoum, Kordofan, Northern, and Upper Nile. In 1948, Bahr al Ghazal split from Equatoria.
There were numerous new provinces created on 1 July 1973. North and South Darfur were created from Darfur, while Kurdufan divided into North and South Kordofan. Gezira and White Nile were split off from Blue Nile. River Nile split off from Northern. Red Sea was split off from Kassala.
A further fracturing of provinces occurred in 1976. Lakes split from Bahr al Ghazal, and Jonglei split off from Upper Nile. Equatoria divided into Eastern and Western Equatoria. There were thus eighteen provinces. In 1991, the government reorganized the administrative regions into nine federal states, matching the nine provinces that had existed from 1948 to 1973. On 14 February 1994, the government reorganized yet again, creating twenty-six wilayat (states). The majority of the wilayat were either the old provinces or administrative subregions of a province. As part of the new government structure in South Sudan in 2005, Bahr al Jabal was renamed Central Equatoria. In 2006, West Kurdufan was split and merged with North Kurdufan and South Kordofan.
In January 2012, the new states of Central Darfur and East Darfur were created in the Darfur region, bringing the total number of states to 17.[9] In July 2013, West Kurdufan was reestablished.[10] [11]
Since the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état, the states in Sudan have been without state governments and legislative councils.
See main article: States of South Sudan.
On 9 July 2011, the ten southern states became the independent country of South Sudan. They were further divided into 86 counties.