Aweil State


Aweil State was a state in South Sudan that existed between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020. It is located in the Bahr el Ghazal region and it borders Gogrial to the east, Lol to the west, Aweil East to the north, and Wau to the south. Its largest city, Aweil, has a population of nearly 60,000 in 2008.

History

The area was originally part of the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal. On 2 October 2015, President Salva Kiir issued a decree establishing 28 states in place of the 10 constitutionally established states. The decree established the new states largely along ethnic lines. A number of opposition parties and civil society groups challenged the constitutionality of the decree. Kiir later resolved to take it to parliament for approval as a constitutional amendment. In November the South Sudanese parliament empowered President Kiir to create new states.
Ronald Ruai Deng was appointed Governor on 24 December.
In February 2020, a compromise led President Salva Kiir to revert the map of South Sudan to its original ten states.

Government

The current Aweil state was formed on October 2, 2015, and adopted government similar to the South Sudanese Government. The state currently has a stable government. The first governor of Aweil State was Ronald Ruai Deng and was appointed as Governor on 24 December 2015.

Geography

Administrative divisions

After the split up, Aweil State broke down even further for a total of 8 counties, which were created on April 2016. The 8 counties are consisted of the following:
Alongside to the creation of the 8 counties, Aweil State also contains the municipality of Aweil.

Aweil City

Aweil is a city in Aweil State. The city is the largest in the state, and it is also the capital of the state. It is located nearly 800 kilometers away from Juba, South Sudan's capital. Before South Sudan split into 28 states, the city used to be the capital of the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and it served as the county seat of former Aweil Centre County