Northern ( ') is one of the 18 wilayat (states) of

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 has an area of 348,765 km² and an estimated population of 936,255. Northern Sudan was in ancient times

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

. Jebel Uweinat is a mountain range in the area of the Egyptian-Libyan-Sudanese border. The state has been part of historical Sudanese kingdoms and countries such as the

Mahdist State The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad Mahdi, al-Mahdi) against ...

and the

Kingdom of Kush The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an an ...

. The state is bordering

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to the North,

River Nile State River Nile State () is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 122,123 km² (47,152 mi²) and an estimated population of 1,511,442 (2018 est). It is made up of seven localities. Localities * Ad-Damir (Capital) * At ...

to the east,

Khartoum State Khartoum State () is one of the eighteen states of Sudan. Although it is the smallest state by area (22,142 km2), it is the most populous state in Sudan—5,274,321 in the 2008 census, and officially estimated at 7,993,900 in 2018. It contai ...

to the southeast, North Kordofan to the south, and

North Darfur North Darfur State ( Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and an estimated population of approximat ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

to the west. The disputed Wadi Halfa Salient is located on the border of the state and Egypt.

History

Northern has been under control of a few Sudanese-Nubian kingdoms throughout its history. Here is a list of early kingdoms or Sudanese empires (countries/non recognized states) that controlled the state fully or partially. *

* Alodia *

Kingdom of Kerma The Kingdom of Kerma or the Kerma culture was an early civilization centered in Kerma, Sudan. It flourished from around 2500 BC to 1500 BC in ancient Nubia. The Kerma culture was based in the southern part of Nubia, or " Upper Nubia" (in parts of ...

Nobatia Nobatia or Nobadia (; Greek: Νοβαδία, ''Nobadia''; Old Nubian: ⲙⲓⲅⲛ̅ ''Migin'' or ⲙⲓⲅⲓⲧⲛ︦ ⲅⲟⲩⲗ, ''Migitin Goul'' lit. "''of Nobadia's land''") was a late antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the tw ...

The Sudanese

Makuria Makuria ( Old Nubian: , ''Dotawo''; ; ) was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Its capital was Dongola (Old Nubian: ') in the fertile Dongola Reach, and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of ...

kingdom was able to defeat Rashidun forces twice in the town of modern day Dongola. The first battle took place in 642, while the other took place in 652. The

Funj Sultanate 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 ...

also controlled southeastern parts of the state.

Sudanese civil war (2023–present)

As other places on 15 April 2023 across Sudan, Northern was a sight of conflict for a small amount of time. The RSF battled the Sudanese and Egyptian army at the town and was defeated and had to withdraw to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

. The battle ended RSF presence in the state. The state has not been a sight of war since April 2023 besides minor drone attacks. The state may be a sight of war soon after RSF deputy Abdul Rahim Dagalo had threatened to attack cities in Northern after the government's recapture of Khartoum. Hemedti also threatened an invasion of neighboring

. He also claimed that 200 RSF vehicles were heading towards the state. This comes after the Sudanese army and its allies lost control of Al-Malha, a strategic location that links the road from

to Northern.

Localities

Dongola Dongola (), also known as Urdu or New Dongola, is the capital of Northern State in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, a now deserted medieval city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank. Et ...

(Capital) * Gararish * Merowe *

Wadi Halfa (, , ":wikt:esparto, Esparto Valley") is a city in the Northern (state), Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nasser, Lake Nubia near the Egypt–Sudan border, border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail transport in Sudan, rail lin ...

* Al Dabbah * Delgo * Al Goled * Al Burgaig

Districts

# Wadi Halfa District # Dongola District # Merawi District # Addabah District

References

States of Sudan {{Sudan-geo-stub