Western Bahr el Ghazal – History
Western Bahr el Ghazal is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 93,900 km2 (36,255 sq mi) and as of 2020 has estimated 600,000 in population. It is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. Its capital is Wau. The state shared international borders with Sudan to the north and the Central African Republic to the west. The portion now occupied by Raga County (pronounced 'Raja') is the southern part of the historical region known as "Dar Fertit".
This state, and Raga County in particular, was the part of South Sudan that was most affected by the slave trade conducted by nearby Muslim sultanates from the 18th century on and by Mameluk Egypt in the second half of the 19th century, and Raga County is the only part of South Sudan with a significant number of Muslims and Arabs. In addition to the Baggara Arabs, another local Muslim ethnic group is the Feroghe (Feroge, etc.). Traditionally, the northern part of Raga County falls within the "Baggara belt", the 1400 kilometer wide section of the central Sahel in which cattle herding Arabic speaking tribes conduct seasonal nomadic migrations. When the slave trade soared in the 1860s and 1870s, the region's population shrank dramatically, plunging by 75 percent to about 400,000. Depopulation was due to several factors all related to wars that were provoked by the upsurge in slaving promoted by Egypt, factors including: actual capture of inhabitants, emigration of refugees, and epidemics. The population according to the 2008 census was lower still. This may have been partly due to the second Sudanese civil war, 1983-1999, which devastated most of South Sudan, exacting a toll of two million dead civilians and hundreds of thousands of refugees.
During the Sudanese era power was controlled mainly by the Feroghe, including the NIF stalwart Ali Tamim Fartak, who ruled Western Bahr al-Ghazal from 1992 or 1993 until 1997. He later served as governor of South Darfur, as Minister of Electricity and as Minister of Education. Fartak currently leads the Islamic Movement for the Liberation of Raja.
In October 2015, Western Bahr el Ghazal was split into two new states, Lol State and Wau State, following an act by President Salva Kiir to establish 32 new states of South Sudan.
Following a peace agreement at the conclusion of the South Sudanese Civil War in 2020, Western Bahr el Ghazal was reestablished along with the rest of the original ten states of South Sudan. Kiir appointed Sarah Cleto Hassan as governor, and the only woman to be appointed of eight governors.