North Darfur

North Darfur State 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 approximately 2,304,950 in 2018. Al-Fashir is the capital of the state. Other significant towns include Ailliet, Kebkabiya, Kutum, Mellit, Tawila, Saraf Omra and Umm Keddada.

History

North Darfur shares much of the history of Darfur. It was the center of the Sultanate of Darfur and contained both its capital al-Fashir and its biggest trading city Kobbei.
Former lieutenant general, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and defense minister Ibrahim Suleiman Hassan served as governor of North Darfur from 2001 to 2003, until being dismissed by al-Bashir.
North Darfur has been a major flashpoint during the ongoing civil war. Reports indicate that tens of thousands of people were killed in the El Fasher massacre in late October 2025, perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces after they captured Al-Fashir, the last Sudanese Armed Forces stronghold in Darfur.

Geography

North Darfur occupies more than half of the territory of the Darfur region, and includes part of the Marrah Mountains. The northern part is entirely desert. To the south there is slightly more rainfall with the eastern side being plains with low sandy hills, while the volcanic Marrah Mountains occupy most of the western side of the south. In the southern portion the most important crops are millet, maize and peanuts.
North Darfur is bounded on the northwest by Libya, on the north by Northern State, on the east by Northern State and North Kurdufan, on the southeast by South Kurdufan, on the south by South Darfur, and on the west by West Darfur and the Republic of Chad. Most of North Darfur's population follow Sunni Islam.

Governors

Name	Period	References
Osman Kebir	May 2003 – June 2015
Abdelwahid Yousif Ibrahim	June 2015 – unknown
Malik al-Tayeb Khojali	at least from May 2019 – Late July 2020
Mohamed Hassan Arabi	at least from September 2020 – 13 June 2021
Nimir Mohammed Abdelrahman	13 June 2021 – 1 January 2024
Al-Hafiz Bakhit Mohammed	at least during August 2024