Is Umm Ruwaba safe?
Sudan · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Umm Ruwaba is a city in Sudan, home to about 185k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,010 of 6,168, with a safety score of 53.1 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency 999 (ambulance, fire, police)
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Sudan, updated 2026-05-14.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Sudan as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- villages of the Jabal Al-Dayer area41 deaths · 1 event
- village of Al-Damukiya, east of Khor Taqat area30 deaths · 1 event
- Lubana village, El Abassiya District, South Kordofan24 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Umm Ruwaba, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Get help in Sudan
- Leaving Sudan
Named in the official UK travel advice for Sudan (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Umm Ruwaba.
How safe is Umm Ruwaba really?
Neither Umm Ruwaba nor Sudan has a published homicide rate in the sources this site uses (UNODC and the Igarapé Homicide Monitor), so the strongest single indicator of city safety is simply missing here. Sudan's income inequality is middling (Gini 34.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Umm Ruwaba also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 283 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 30 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were villages of the Jabal Al-Dayer area (41 deaths), village of Al-Damukiya, east of Khor Taqat area (30 deaths), Lubana village, El Abassiya District, South Kordofan (24 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Sudan at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-14). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 2 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Sudan
Terrorism in Sudan · Red Sea military activity · Security situation · Criminal kidnap · Mobile phone and internet access · Personal ID · Dress code · Ramadan · Alcohol and drug laws · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Relationships outside marriage · Guests in hotel rooms · Technical equipment · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Sudan — country-level, not specific to Umm Ruwaba. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 283within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 34.2country, 2014
- Human development
- HDI 0.511country, 2023
- Income
- $2,140/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 185kurban centre · 9,238/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 26.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 14/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.40Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 37.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 98 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Sudan
- Flood
- 8.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Sudan as a whole, not Umm Ruwaba specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Sudan (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Sudan; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Umm Ruwaba that gives 53.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Umm Ruwaba compared with Al-Ubayyid
| Measure | Umm Ruwaba | Al-Ubayyid | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 53.1 | 51.4 | +1.8 — better for Umm Ruwaba |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 283 | 419 | −136 — better for Umm Ruwaba |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Sudan, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Al-Ubayyid →
Nearby cities
- Al Rahad 50.5
- Al-Ubayyid 51.4
- Kosti 55.6
- Rabak 54.7
- Ed Dueim 52.4
- Dilling 52.6
- Renk, South Sudan 37.3
- Al Managil 45.3
See Umm Ruwaba on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →