Blue Nile State

Blue Nile State ولاية النيل الأزرق Wilāyat an-Nīl al-Azraq
State
Flag Seal
Location in Sudan.
Coordinates: 11°16′N 34°4′E
Country	Sudan
Region	Blue Nile Province
Capital	Ad-Damazin
Government
• Governor	Ahmed al-Omda
Area
• Total	45,844 km^2 (17,700 sq mi)
Population  (2018)
• Total	1,108,391[1]
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
HDI (2017)	0.416[2] low

Blue Nile State (Arabic: ولاية النيل الأزرق Wilāyat an-Nīl al-ʾAzraq) is one of the eighteen states of the Republic of the Sudan. It was established by presidential decree nº 3 in 1992 and it is named after the Blue Nile River.

The region is host to around forty different ethnic groups. Its economic activity is based on agriculture and livestock and increasing mineral exploitation.

History

In 2011, residents of Blue Nile were scheduled to hold ill-defined "popular consultations" to determine the constitutional future of the state, per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Instead, a dispute over the rightful government of the state, and the determination of Omar al-Bashir to eradicate the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, led to a renewed nine-year conflict between government forces and the Sudan Revolutionary Front as well as contributing to a refugee crisis.^[3][4] The conflict finally came to an end in 2020 after a peace agreement was signed and the government to not discriminate based on ethnicity or religion.^[5][6] Further clashes in the state broke out in 2022 between the Hausa people and Funj and Berta peoples over land disputes which led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians.^[7]

Administration

The State is sub-divided into six districts (with 2006 Census populations shown hereafter):

• Ad-Damazin (212,712)
• Al Kormok (110,815)
• Ar Roseires (215,857)
• Tadamon (77,668)
• Bau or Baw (127,251)
• Qeissan (87,809)

State Governors

• Feb 1994 – Dec 1997 : Abdalla Abu-Fatma Abdalla
• Dec 1997 – Jan 2000 : Abd ar-Rahman Abu Madyan
• Jan 2000 – Feb 2001 : Al-Hadi Bashra
• Feb 2001 – 2003 : Hassan Hamadayn Suleiman (1st time)
• 2003 – 2004?: Abdallah Uthman al-Haj
• 2004 – 2005: Hassan Hamadayn Suleiman (2nd time)
• Sep 2005 – Jul 2007 : Abdel Rahman Mohamed Abu Madien
• Jul 2007 – 20 Sep 2011 : Malik Agar Eyre ^[8]                                      
• Sep 2011 –  Apr 2013 : Yahya Mohamed Khair (1st time)                     
• 1 Apr 2013 – May 2018 : Hussein Yassin Hamad
• 14 May 2018 – Feb 2019 : Khalid Hussein Mohamed Omer
• 24 Feb 2019 – Apr 2019 : Yahya Mohamed Khair (2nd time)
• Apr 2019 - 2020 : Ahmed Abdul-Rahim Shukratall
• 22 Jul 2020 - 27 Dec 2020 : Abdul Rahman Mohammed Nour al-Daiem
• Dec 2020 - 13 Jun 2021 : Jamal Abdel Hadi
• 13 Jun 2021 - Incumbent : Ahmed al-Omda^[9]

^[10]

Geography

Blue Nile state has an area of 45,844 km² and an estimated population of 1,193,293. The Central Bureau of Statistics quoted the population at 832,112 in the 2006 census. Ad-Damazin is the capital of the state. The state of Blue Nile is home to the Roseires Dam, the main source of hydroelectric power in Sudan until the completion of the Merowe Dam in 2010.

Languages

The following languages are spoken in Blue Nile state according to Ethnologue.^[11]

• Berta language
• Gumuz language
• Hausa language
• Eastern Jebel languages
  • Gaam language
  • Aka language
  • Kelo language
  • Molo language
• Nilotic languages
  • Burun language
  • Jumjum language
• Omotic languages
  • Ganza language
• Koman languages
  • Komo language
  • Gule language
  • Uduk language
• Other languages
  • Fulfulde language
  • Songhay language

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
2. "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
3. Boswell, Alan (2 September 2011). "Sudan's Conflict Spreads: Is This the Start of a New Civil War?". Time. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
4. Maasho, Aaron (14 October 2011). "Sudan's Blue Nile conflict forces painful return to Ethiopia". Reuters Africa. Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011.
5. "Sudan signs landmark peace deal with rebel alliance". DW. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
6. Michael Atit (4 September 2020). "Sudan's Government Agrees to Separate Religion and State". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
7. SudanTribune (2023-01-16). "Blue Nile tribal groups agree to end bloody violence". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
8. "Sudan appoints new governor in Blue Nile". www.occasionalwitness.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
9. "Sudan's prime minister appoints 3 state governors in Darfur, Blue Nile". June 13, 2021.
10. "States of the Sudan since 1991". WorldStatesmen.org.
11. Languages of Sudan. Ethnologue, 22nd edition.

External links

• History and geography
• UN Work Plan for Blue Nile State