States of Sudan

On July 9, 2011, the African country of Sudan was divided into two entities, the northern part, which continued to bear that name, and the southern part, which was renamed South Sudan. This article recounts the historical development of the subdivisions of both countries, which begins in 1919 with the first provinces of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and continues with the changes in the administrative structure of the independent Republic of Sudan since 1956, passing through from the introduction of the first states in 1991, which in 1994 constituted the current states into which both countries are divided.

Since 2005, Sudan was divided into 25 states (Arabic wilayah), further subdivided into a total of 133 districts. Each state is administered by a governor and the Council of Ministers from him. He and his ministers are appointed directly by the president of Sudan. An exception was the autonomous region of South Sudan, whose governors and ministers were appointed by the president of South Sudan, who was simultaneously the first vice president of Sudan. Since 9 July 2011, the ten southern states form the independent state of South Sudan. The border between the countries is still partly controversial, especially the Abyei area. According to the 2005 peace agreement, this area was allocated to both the West Kordofan State (Sudan) and the North Bar el Gazal State (South Sudan).

Current states of Sudan

The ten southern states have formed the independent state of South Sudan since July 9, 2011. In the referendum on the independence of that country, which was held in accordance with the peace agreement signed between January 9 and 15, 2011, in which around 99% of the inhabitants of the south voted in favor of independence. The president of Sudan, Umar Hasan Ahmad al-Baschir, recognized this result. Independence was declared after a transitional period, on the 9th. July 2011.

In Darfur, a referendum that was also held in 2011 decided the fate of the three states that made up the region. At the same time, however, the government planned to create two new states, Bahr al-Arab with its capital at Ed Daein and Marra Jebel with its capital at Zalingei. In May 2011, the government approved the creation of the new States of Central and Eastern Darfur. To this end, the former states of West and South Darfur reduced their size, while North Darfur would remain unchanged within their borders. On January 10, 2012, the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, presented three decrees for the creation of two new states and the appointment of new governors of the Darfur region.

Below is the list of the 18 states of Sudan. Transliterations of Arabic names into Spanish can vary, particularly because the article “al” is sometimes translated as “the.”

History

The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan had eight “mudiriyas” or provinces, which were ambiguous when they were created but became more defined at the beginning of World War II. The eight provinces were: Blue Nile, Darfur, Equatoria, Kassala, Khartoum, Kurdufan, North, and Upper Nile. In 1948 Bar el Gazal separated from Equatoria. On January 1, 1973, the Red Sea separated from Kassala.

Numerous provinces were created on July 1, 1973. The provinces of North Darfur and South Darfur appeared from Darfur, while Kurdufan was divided into North Kurdufan and South Kurdufan. Al Jazirah and the White Nile separated from the Blue Nile. Nile River split from the North.

Another additional province split occurred in 1976. Lagos split from Bar el Gazal, and Junqali from Upper Nile. Equatoria was divided into Eastern Equatoria and Western Equatoria. There were then eighteen provinces. In 1991, the government reorganized the administrative regions into nine federal states, returning to the nine provinces that existed from 1948 to 1973. On February 14, 1994, the government reorganized the territory again, creating twenty-six “wilayahs.” i>” (states). Most wilayah were not the old provinces or the administrative regions within a province.

In August 2005, the state of West Kordofan was abolished and its territory was divided between North Kordofan and South Kordofan, as part of the implementation of the peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Liberation Movement of the People of Sudan. According to the resolution protocol, the border of South Kordofan should be that of the former South Kordofan Province when Greater Kordofan was divided into two provinces.

In 2011, a referendum was voted to seek to put an end to the ethnic and territorial problems of this troubled nation, which would split it into two national entities; one to the Muslim and pro-Arab north; and another to the south, with a traditional and animist tendency. Due to this split, Sudan lost 10 of its 25 states.

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  Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Provinces

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  Provinces of the Sudan (1948-1973)

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  Provinces of the Sudan (1974-1976)

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  Provinces of the Sudan (1976-1991)

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  States of the Sudan (1991-1994)

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  States of the Sudan (1994-2006)

Autonomous Regions of Sudan

• Darfur Regional Authority: The 3 East Darfur States (North Darfur)Shamal DarfurSouthern DarfurJanub DarfurWestern DarfurGharb Darfur) are coordinated by this body, established in April 2007 in compliance with the peace treaty signed in May 2006.

States that are now part of South Sudan

• North Gazal Bar (Shamal Bahr al Ghazal)
• West Gazal Bar (Gharb Bahr al Ghazal)
• Central Equator
• Eastern Equatoria (Sharq al Istiwa'iyah)
• Western Equatoria (Gharb al Istiwa'iyah)
• Junqali
• Upper Nile (A'ali an Nil)
• Lakes (Al Buhayrat)
• Unit (Al Wahdah)
• Warab