Blue Nile State ( ') is one of the eighteen

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the

Republic of the Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. It was established by presidential decree nº 3 in 1992 and it is named after the

Blue Nile River The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to the ...

. 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 The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on 9 January 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudane ...

. Instead, a dispute over the rightful government of the state, and the determination of

Omar al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...

to eradicate the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (), or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of the Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are formally known as the S ...

, led to a renewed nine-year conflict between government forces and the

Sudan Revolutionary Front The Sudan Revolutionary Front (), or the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), was an alliance between Sudanese factions that was created in opposition to the government of President Omar al-Bashir. It was declared on 12 November 2011, following sev ...

as well as contributing to a refugee crisis. 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. Further clashes in the state broke out in 2022 between the

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

people and

Funj The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate (due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue) (), was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern ...

and Berta peoples over land disputes which led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians. On 5 August 2024, the RSF launched an incursion into the state and continues to control northwestern parts of the state. On 5 March 2025, SAF launched a counteroffensive on the rest of RSF controled territory in Sennar, and on the same day take full control over territories, including Mazmoum.

Administration

The State is sub-divided into five districts (with 2006 Census populations shown hereafter): # Ad Damazin District (212,712) # Al Roseires District (215,857) #

Geissan District Geissan is a district of Blue Nile state, Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the n ...

(87,809) #

Baw District Baw is a district of Blue Nile state, Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north ...

(127,251) #

Al Kurumik District Al Kurumik is a district of Blue Nile state, Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to th ...

(110,815)

State Governors

* Feb 1994 – Dec 1997 :

Abdalla Abu-Fatma Abdalla Abdullah may refer to: * Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village * ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan * '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...

* Dec 1997 – Jan 2000 : Abd ar-Rahman Abu Madyan * Jan 2000 – Feb 2001 :

Al-Hadi Bashra Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī (; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab al-Hādī () was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH (785 CE) until his death in 1 ...

* Feb 2001 – 2003 :

Hassan Hamadayn Suleiman Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name * Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scott ...

(1st time) * 2003 – 2004?:

Abdallah Uthman al-Haj Abd Allah (), also spelled Abdullah, Abdhullah, Abdellah, Abdollah, Abdallah, Abdulla, Abdalla and many others, is an Arabic theophoric name meaning ''servant of God'' or "God's follower". It is built from the Arabic words '' abd'' () and ''All� ...

* 2004 – 2005:

(2nd time) * Sep 2005 – Jul 2007 :

Abdel Rahman Mohamed Abu Madien Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It ...

* Jul 2007 – 20 Sep 2011 :

Malik Agar Malik Agar (; born Nganyofa Agar Eyre Nganyofa) is a Sudanese politician and former insurgent leader who was active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Since 2023, he has been the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Sud ...

Eyre * 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 Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

* 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

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 Ad-Damazin () is the capital city of Blue Nile, Sudan. It is the location of the Roseires Dam and power generation plant. Ad-Damazin is served by a terminal station of a branch line of the national railway network. However, the train service to ...

is the capital of the state. The state of Blue Nile is home to the

Roseires Dam The Roseires Dam () is a dam on the Blue Nile at Ad Damazin, just upstream of the town of Er Roseires, in Sudan. It consists of a concrete buttress dam A buttress dam or hollow dam is a dam with a solid, water-tight upstream side that is suppor ...

, the main source of hydroelectric power in Sudan until the completion of the

Merowe Dam The Merowe Dam, also known as Merowe High Dam, Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam, is a large dam near Merowe Town in northern Sudan, about north of the capital Khartoum. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydropower pr ...

in 2010.

Languages

The following languages are spoken in Blue Nile state according to ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

''.Languages of Sudan
''Ethnologue'', 22nd edition. *

Berta language Berta proper, a.k.a. ''Gebeto'', is spoken by the Berta (also ''Bertha, Barta, Burta'') in Sudan and Ethiopia. As of 2006 Berta had approximately 180,000 speakers in Sudan. The three Berta languages, Gebeto, Fadashi and Undu, are often consid ...

Gumuz language Gumuz (also spelled Gumaz) is a dialect cluster spoken along the border of Ethiopia and Sudan. It has been tentatively classified within the Nilo-Saharan family. Most Ethiopian speakers live in Kamashi Zone and Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gu ...

Hausa language Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...

*''

Eastern Jebel languages The Eastern Jebel languages are a small subfamily belonging to the Eastern Sudanic languages, Eastern Sudanic subgroup of Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan. They are spoken in the hills of An Nil al Azraq province in eastern Sudan (the name "J ...

'' **

Gaam language Gaam (Gaahmg), also known as Ingessana, ''(Me/Mun) Tabi'', ''Kamanidi'', or ''Mamedja/Mamidza'', is an Eastern Sudanic language spoken by the Ingessana people in the Tabi Hills in Blue Nile State in eastern Sudan, near Ethiopia. It was consider ...

Aka language Aka, also known as Yaka or Beka, is a Bantu language spoken in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo, along the Ubangi River dividing the two countries. Aka is spoken by the Aka people, pygmies closely related to the Ubangian-spe ...

Kelo language Kelo is a moribund Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Tornasi people in Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya ...

** Molo language *''

Nilotic languages The Nilotic languages are a group of related languages spoken across a wide area between South Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples. Etymology The word Nilotic means of or relating to the Nile river, Nile River or to the Nile region of A ...

'' **

Burun language Northern Burun is a Nilotic language of Sudan. Blench (2012) lists the three varieties separately. References Luo languages Languages of Sudan {{ns-lang-stub ...

** Jumjum language *''

Omotic languages The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others ...

'' **

Ganza language Ganza, also known as Ganzo or Koma, is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic family spoken in the Al Kurumik District of the Blue Nile (state) in Sudan and in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, specifically in the village districts ...

*''

Koman languages The Koman languages are a small, close-knit family of languages located along the Ethiopia–Sudan border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence ...

'' ** Komo language ** Gule language **

Uduk language Uduk, also known as Twʼampa (Tʼwampa), is a Koman language spoken in Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. Nearly the entire population fled to a refugee camp in Ethiopia during the Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War ...

*''Other languages'' **

Fulfulde language Fula ( ),Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani ( ) or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ; Ajami: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 36.8 million people as a set of various diale ...

Songhay language The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, ...

References

External links

History and geography

UN Work Plan for Blue Nile State
{{Authority control States of Sudan