Khartoum State () is one of the eighteen states of Sudan. Although it is the smallest state by area (22,142 km<sup>2</sup>), it is the most populous state in Sudan—5,274,321 in the 2008 census, is that it comes from the Arabic for "elephant's trunk", which describes the shape of the site of the city at the confluence of the two Niles, where a stretch of land extends into the water. Other stories are that it is a corruption of "gurtoum", the name for seeds of the sunflower plant, supposedly used by Roman invaders at the current site of Khartoum to treat soldiers' wounds, or that it was derived from the words "Khor al-Tom".
- Khartoum (Capital)
- Omdurman
- Khartoum North
- Jabal Awliya
- Om Badda
- Karari
Districts
thumb|150px|Districts of Khartoum
- Khartoum District
- Um Badda District
- Omdurman District
- Karary District
- Khartoum Bahri District
- Sharg En Nile (East Nile) District
- South Khartoum District
Population and economy
The 2008 population census estimated the population of Khartoum State to be about 5,274,321 capita, composed of various tribes of the Sudan. The population was officially estimated to have risen to 7,993,900 in 2018. The population in 2008 was 79% urban, and 74% of the state's population reported their region of origin to be outside Khartoum.
The areas of Omdurman and the rural South are inhabited by the tribe of Gamowia, as well as by the Kordofani tribes displaced to these areas by the drought and desertification that hit their areas in the early- and mid-1980s. These are the tribes of the Kababish and the Kawahla. In the northern countryside of Karari locality are the tribe of Shiheinat, and in Khartoum North the tribes of Abdallab and Batahin. In the East Nile are the tribes of Abu Dileig, Batahin, and Kawahla, with the tribe of Iseilat in Um-Dowan.
Most of the population works in government service, the private sector, and banking. There is also a large number of merchants, and migrants and displaced people working in marginal activities. In the countryside most people are engaged in agriculture and grazing and thus supply the capital, Khartoum, with vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. There are also some residents living on the banks of the rivers engaged in the trades dependent on the rivers, such as pottery, brick-making and fishing. Above all stands the strong ambition to become the new Dubai with the financial support coming from the oil and gas supplies of the country.