| Western Bahr el Ghazal | |||
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| — State — | |||
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| Location in South Sudan. | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| state | South Sudan | ||
| Region | Bahr el Ghazal | ||
| No. of counties: 3 | |||
| Capital | Wau | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 93,900 km2 (36,255 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 333,431 | ||
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) | ||
Western Bahr el Ghazal is one of the ten states of South Sudan. It has an area of 93,900 km2 (36,255 sq mi) and is the least populous state in South Sudan, according to the controversial Sudanese census conducted in 2008. It is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. Its capital is Wau. The state shares 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".
Local ethnic groups include the Balanda Boor, Balanda Bviri (Balanda Viri, Balanda Bagari), the Jur Luo, Ndogo, Kresh, Bai, Baggara Arabs, and many others. Despite the common element "Balanda" in their names, the first two ethnicities are not related. Despite frequent mentions of the existence of a "Fertit people" in Western Bahr el Ghazal, there is no such people.[1]
This state, and Raga County in particular, is 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 a significant number of 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 1860's and 1870's, the region's population was decimated, plunging by 75 percent to about 400,000.[2] 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 is lower still. This may be 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.
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Western Bahr el Ghazal like other ten states of South Sudan is subdivided into counties:
South Sudan claims Kafia Kingi as part of Western Bahr el Ghazal with Sudan.
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