The first Sudanese civil war (1955–72) erupted just before Sudan became an independent country. The war was prompted by southerners who had been promised and then denied the right to govern themselves.

1983 - 2005 It lasted for 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan six years after the war ended. Roughly two million people died as a result of war, famine and disease caused by the conflict.

On July 9, after decades of civil war and the loss of more than 2 million lives, South Sudan seceded from Sudan and became the world's newest nation—a peaceful and democratic breaking-in-two of what was Africa's largest country.

The use of massive civil disobedience that led to the coup d'état deposing Nimeiri from the presidency on 6 April is often referred to as the 1985 Revolution that followed the Sudanese October 1964 Revolution. In early 1985, anti-government discontent resulted in a general strike in Khartoum.