It has an area of 93,900 km2 (36,255 sq mi) and is the least populous state in South Sudan, according to the controversial Sudanese census conducted in 2008.

This state, and Raga County in particular, was the part of South Sudan that was most affected by the slave trade conducted by nearby Muslim sultanates from the 18th century on and by Mameluk Egypt in the second half of the 19th century, and Raga County is the only part of South Sudan with a significant number of Muslims and Arabs.

Traditionally, the northern part of Raga County falls within the "Baggara belt", the 1400 kilometer wide section of the central Sahel in which cattle herding Arabic speaking tribes conduct seasonal nomadic migrations.

This may have been partly due to the second Sudanese civil war, 1983-1999, which devastated most of South Sudan, exacting a toll of two million dead civilians and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

[4] During the Sudanese era power was controlled mainly by the Feroghe, including the NIF stalwart Ali Tamim Fartak, who ruled Western Bahr al-Ghazal from 1992 or 1993 until 1997.

[9] 95 % population Christian, The Governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal serves as the state's chief executive.