Northern Bahr el Ghazal – History
Northern Bahr el Ghazal (Arabic: ولاية شمال بحر الغزال) is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 30,543 km2 and is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. It borders East Darfur in Sudan to the north, Western Bahr el Ghazal to the west and south, and Warrap and the disputed region of Abyei to the east. Aweil is the capital of the state.
Because of its proximity to Kordofan and the presence of a railway line through it to Wau, it suffered extensively in the 1983–2005 civil war in southern Sudan. North Bahr al Ghazal and adjacent parts of Western Kordofan to the north were among the most politically sensitive regions in Sudan. Missriya Arabs from Kordofan have interacted with Dinka in this region over a long time. While relations during the colonial era were largely peaceful, the war saw an upsurge in hostilities. Government backing to the Missriya gave them a decided advantage over local Dinka groups, and raiding by murahileen militias (and other government backed groups, including some Dinka militias) resulted in considerable loss of life, widespread abduction and pillaging of Dinka villages. Many of these raids coincided with the movement of government trains to and from Kordofan to Wau.
It had the highest rate of poverty, 76% according to government statistics, of the 10 states of South Sudan.
In October 2015, President Salva Kiir divided the original ten states of South Sudan into 28 states. Northern Bahr el Ghazal was divided into the new states of Aweil, Aweil East, and a part of Lol.
On 22 January 2020, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, along with the rest of the original ten states of South Sudan, was re-established at the conclusion of a peace agreement resolving the South Sudanese Civil War. Tong Aken Ngor, appointed by President Kiir as Governor of Aweil State in 2019, was sworn in as the Governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal in the wake of the state's re-establishment.