Blue Nile (Arabic: النيل الأزرق‎ An Nīl al Āzraq) called Central (Arabic: ‏الوسطى‎ Al Wusta) from 1991 until 1994, is one of the fifteen states of the Republic of Sudan. It was established by Presidential Decree Nº3 in 1992 and is named after the Blue Nile River. It has an area of 45,844 km² and an estimated population of 1,193,293 . The Central Bureau of Statistics quoted the population at 832,112 in the 2006 census. Ad-Damazin is the capital of the state. The state of Blue Nile is home to the Roseires Dam, the main source of hydroelectric power in Sudan until the completion of the Merowe Dam in 2010.

The region is host to around forty different ethnic groups. Its economic activity is based upon agriculture and livestock and increasing mineral exploitation.

In 2011, residents of Blue Nile were scheduled to hold ill-defined "popular consultations" to determine the constitutional future of the state, per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Instead a dispute over the rightful government of the state, and the determination of Omar al-Bashir to eradicate the Sudan People's Liberation Movement has led to a renewed insurgency, a refugee crisis. It appears that the consultations have been postponed indefinitely.

The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ^?; transliterated: ʿAbbai, but pronounced Abbai, Arabic: النيل الأزرق‎ An Nīl al Āzraq) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The upper reaches of the river is called the Abbay in Ethiopia, where it is considered holy by many, and is believed to be the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2.

According to materials published by the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency, the Blue Nile has a total length of 1,450 kilometres (900 mi), of which 800 km (500 mi) are inside Ethiopia. The Blue Nile flows generally south from Lake Tana and then west across Ethiopia and northwest into Sudan. Within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of its source at Lake Tana, the river enters a canyon about 400 kilometres (250 mi) long. This gorge is a tremendous obstacle for travel and communication from the north half of Ethiopia to the southern half. The power of the Blue Nile may best be appreciated at Tis Issat Falls, which are 45 metres (148 ft) high, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) downstream of Lake Tana.

South Sudan (ⁱ/ˌsaʊθ suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in the east-central African region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN subregion. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future. South Sudan is bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the west, and Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal.

The modern states of South Sudan and Sudan were part of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, later being governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed.

Kristiina Ojuland (born 17 December 1966 in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia) was the foreign minister of Estonia from 2002 through 2005. In June 2004 she ran for the post of secretary-general of the Council of Europe, but was defeated, receiving 51 of 299 votes. She is a member of the Estonian Reform Party and since 2009 she serves as 1 of the 6 Estonian MEPs in the European parliament.

She is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group.

1993: Vienna School of International Studies, special program

1992: Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, special program.

1992: Graduated from the Estonian School of Diplomacy in Tallinn.

1990: LL.B, Law Faculty, University of Tartu

2009–: Member of European Parliament (ALDE)

2007–: Vice President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), member of the ELDR Bureau

2007–: Vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ALDE-PACE Group

2007–2009: First vice-speaker of Riigikogu