[2] The mountains cover an area roughly 64km wide by 145km long (40 by 90 miles), and are 450 to 900 metres (1,500 to 3,000 ft) higher in elevation than the surrounding plain.

[4] The region stayed under the control of the central government and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement did not give the Nuba Mountains the right to join South Sudan in its vote for independence in 2011.

[9] Additionally, the Sudanese government maintained a heavy military presence in the region and even prospective "popular consultations" were seen likely to be barred.

Samuel Totten described the campaign of the Sudanese government in the Nuba Mountains as a "genocide by attrition" using starvation as a tool of extermination.

[14] In 2002, due to the extreme starvation of the people of the Nuba Mountains and under the international pressure from the UN, Khartoum under President Bashir (at that time, the government was termed the National Islamic Front) authorizes an interim cease fire to provide food and medical equipment/support to the people of the Nuba Mountains.

Abdel Aziz Adam El Hilu was at that time, the governor of the Nuba Mountains and former military leader for the SPLA.

The international community, including a number of celebrities such as actor George Clooney[15] and reporter Nicholas Kristof,[16] in 2015 travelled to the Nuba Mountains and documented the continued genocidal activities of the Bashir government.

[18] As of 2025 in the course of the civil war, most of the state including the largest city of Kologi are controlled by the secular free-market democrats under al-Hilu.