1978 - Oil discovered in Bentiu in southern Sudan. 1999 - Sudan begins to export oil.

2005 January - Government and southern rebels sign a peace deal. The agreement includes a permanent ceasefire and accords on wealth and power sharing.

2005 9 July - Former southern rebel leader John Garang is sworn in as first vice president. A constitution which gives a large degree of autonomy to the south is signed.

2005 1 August - Vice president and former rebel leader John Garang is killed in a plane crash. He is succeeded by Salva Kiir. Garang's death sparks deadly clashes in the capital between southern Sudanese and northern Arabs.

2005 September - Power-sharing government is formed in Khartoum.

2005 October - Autonomous government is formed in the south, in line with January 2005 peace deal. The administration is dominated by former rebels.

2007 October - SPLM temporarily suspends participation in national unity government, accusing Khartoum of failing to honour the 2005 peace deal. Returns to government in December.

2008 May - Southern defence minister Dominic Dim Deng is killed in a plane crash in the south.

2008 June - President Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir agree to seek international arbitration to resolve dispute over Abyei.

2009 July - North and south Sudan say they accept ruling by arbitration court in The Hague shrinking disputed Abyei region and placing the major Heglig oil field in the north.

2011 January - People of the South vote in favour of full independence from the north.

2011 July - South Sudan gains independence.

2011 September - State of emergency declared in Blue Nile state, elected SPLM-N Governor Malik Agar sacked. Some 100,000 said fleeing unrest.

2011 October - South Sudan and Sudan agree to set up several committees tasked with resolving their outstanding disputes.

2011 November - Sudan accused of bombing refugee camp in Yida, Unity State, South Sudan.

A Kenyan judge issues an arrest warrant for President Bashir, saying he should be detained if ever he sets foot in the country again.

2011 December - International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor requests arrest warrant for Sudan's defence minister, Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Sudanese government forces kill key Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim.

2012 January - South Sudan halts oil production after talks on fees for the export of oil via Sudan break down.

2012 February-April - Sudan and South Sudan sign non-aggression pact at talks on outstanding secession issues, but border fighting breaks out.

2012 May - Sudan pledges to pull its troops out of the border region of Abyei, which is also claimed by South Sudan, as bilateral peace talks resume.

2012 June - Week-long protests in Khartoum at austerity measures spread from students to general public and turn into clashes with police. The government cut fuel and other subsidies because of the drop in oil revenues after the independence of South Sudan.

See the timeline