Initial census data puts South Kordofan population at 2.5 million

The chairman of the committee to re-do the census in South Kordofan, Ali Toro, said that the initial results show that there are nearly 2.5 million people in the state. The data comes from the state and the census teams in the field. Toro said that the Central Agency for Statistics in Khartoum  is expected to announce preliminary findings formally in a few days after a check of the data. South Kordofan had to re-do the census this June after the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement contested the results of the count taken in 2008. Voters in the state participated in the April 2010 election at the national level only. South Kordofan has not yet held local and state elections.

The census has political implications because South Kordofan will later be determined to be part of either North Sudan or South Sudan, based at least in part on a ‘popular consultation’ conducted by the state assembly. During the north-south civil war the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan were controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.