Red Sea State

Red Sea State (Arabic: ولاية البحر الأحمر, Wilāyat al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar) is one of the 18 wilayat (states) of Sudan. It covers an area of about, 218,887 km² and has an estimated population of 1.48 million. The state borders Egypt to the north, River Nile State to the west, Kassala State to the south, Eritrea to the southeast, and the Red Sea to the east. Its capital and largest city is Port Sudan, which serves as Sudan's main seaport and handles around 90% of the country's international trade, making the state Sudan's only maritime outlet to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Much of Sudan's coastline lies within Red Sea State, giving it strategic and economic importance, and more than half of its population lives in urban areas. Sudan also claims the Halaib Triangle on the northern frontier as part of Red Sea State, although the area is administered by Egypt and remains the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute.