Lakes State
State of South Sudan
title: "Lakes State" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-state", "states-of-south-sudan", "bahr-el-ghazal"] description: "State of South Sudan" topic_path: "general/lakes-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakes_State" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary State of South Sudan ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox state"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Lakes State |
| native_name | Jieng/Belle |
| settlement_type | State |
| image_flag | Flag of Lakes State.png |
| image_seal | Emblem of Lakes State.png |
| image_map | Al-Buhayrat Map.svg |
| map_caption | Location in South Sudan. |
| coordinates | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | South Sudan |
| subdivision_type1 | Region |
| subdivision_name1 | Bahr el Ghazal |
| subdivision_type2 | No. of counties:Eight |
| seat_type | Capital |
| seat | Rumbek |
| government_type | Revitalized Transitional government |
| leader_title | Governor |
| leader_name | Rin Tueny Mabor |
| established_title | State |
| established_date | Jul 9th 2011 |
| area_total_km2 | 43595.08 |
| population_as_of | 2017 estimate |
| population_total | 853,097 |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| timezone | CAT |
| utc_offset | +2 |
| blank_name_sec1 | HDI (2019) |
| blank_info_sec1 | 0.348 |
| · 6th of 10 | |
| :: |
|name = Lakes State
|native_name = Jieng/Belle
|other_name=
|nickname =
|motto =
|settlement_type = State
|image_skyline =
|imagesize =
|image_caption =
|image_flag = Flag of Lakes State.png
|image_seal = Emblem of Lakes State.png
|image_shield =
|image_map =Al-Buhayrat Map.svg
|mapsize =
|map_caption = Location in South Sudan.
|coordinates =
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = South Sudan
|subdivision_type1 = Region
|subdivision_name1 = Bahr el Ghazal
|subdivision_type2 = No. of counties:Eight
|subdivision_name2 =
|seat_type = Capital
|seat = Rumbek
|government_type = Revitalized Transitional government
|leader_title = Governor
|leader_name = Rin Tueny Mabor
|established_title = State
|established_date = Jul 9th 2011
|area_magnitude =
|area_total_km2 = 43595.08
|population_as_of = 2017 estimate
|population_note =
|population_total = 853,097
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone = CAT
|utc_offset = +2
|elevation_m =
|elevation_ft =
|postal_code_type =
|postal_code =
|area_code =
| blank_name_sec1 = HDI (2019)
| blank_info_sec1 = 0.348
· 6th of 10
|website =
|footnotes =
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cattle_Herders_at_Cattle_Camp_in_Rumbek,_South_Sudan.jpg" caption="Cattle Herders at Cattle Camp in Rumbek"] ::
Lakes is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 43,595.08 km2. Rumbek is the capital of the state. Lakes is in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan, in addition to Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Warrap states. Bahr el Ghazal itself was a former province which was split from the Anglo-Egyptian mudiriyat, or province of Equatoria in 1948. The eastern border was the White Nile with Jonglei State on the opposite bank. To the northeast lied the Unity State. Other borders included Warrap State towards the northwest, Western Equatoria to the south and west, and Central Equatoria to the south.
In July 2011, Ramciel in Lakes state was under consideration by the federal government as a site for a new national capital, which would replace Juba.
Administration
Like all states in South Sudan, Lakes was divided into counties; there were eight counties, each headed by a County Commissioner.
::data[format=table] | County || Area (km2) || Population Census 2008 || County Commissioner | |---| | Awerial | | Cueibet | | Rumbek North | | Rumbek Central | | Wulu | | Rumbek East | | Yirol West | | Yirol East | ::
The counties are further divided into Payams, then Bomas.
Disestablishment and re-establishment
Lakes State was disestablished in October 2015 due to South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit issuing a decree establishing 28 states in place of the 10 previously established states. As a result, the states of Eastern Lakes, Gok and Western Lakes were created. Lakes state was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.
Conflict
Cattle raids were persistent in the Lakes State, between the Republic of Sudan and the former rebel group SPLA/M, since the CPA was signed in 2005. Human rights journalist Manyang Mayom reported heavily on government oppression in the Lakes State; his work won him the Human Rights Watch Award on August 4, 2010. Mayom was expelled from the Warrap State in November 2021 for his work in that region with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
References
References
- "South Sudan: States and counties".
- "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
- Christie, Sean. (8 July 2011). "South Sudan brushes fear aside".
- "Kiir and Makuei want 28 states in South Sudan". Radio Tamazuj.
- "After 6 years of war, will peace finally come to South Sudan? {{!".
- (2021-11-10). "Warrap banishes local reporter working for UN radio".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::