A New Nation - South Sudan

by Gloria Ssali

Title

A New Nation - South Sudan

Artist

Gloria Ssali

Medium

Painting - Watercolour

Description

South Sudan ( i/ˌsaʊθ suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/), officially the Republic of South Sudan[8] and previously known as Southern Sudan, is a landlocked country in east-central Africa[8] that is part of the United Nations subregion of Eastern Africa.[9] Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city. The capital city is planned to be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future.[10] 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. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal.
The territories of modern South Sudan and Sudan were part of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and later 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.
South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote.[11][12] It is a United Nations member state,[13][14] a member state of the African Union,[15] and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.[16] In July 2012, South Sudan signed the Geneva Conventions.[17]
The Nilotic peoples—the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk and others—first entered South Sudan sometime before the 10th century. During the period from the 15th to the 19th centuries, tribal migrations, largely from the area of Bahr el Ghazal, brought these peoples to their modern locations. The non-Nilotic Azande people, who entered South Sudan in the 16th century, established the region's largest state. The Azande are the third- or fourth-largest ethnic group in South Sudan (either the Azande or the Bari are third-largest). They are found in the Maridi, Yambio, and Tambura districts in the tropical rainforest belt of Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal. In the 18th century, the Avungara sib rose to power over the rest of Azande society and this domination continued into the 20th century.[18] Geographical barriers prevented the spread of Islam to the southerners, thus enabling them to retain their social and cultural heritage, as well as their political and religious institutions
John Garang de Mabior led the Sudan People's Liberation Army until his death in 2005.
The Azande have had difficult relations with the neighbours, namely the Moru, Mundu, Pöjulu, and the small groups in Bahr el Ghazal, due to the expansionist policy of their king, Gbudwe, in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the Azande fought the French, the Belgians and the Mahdists to maintain their independence. Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, first attempted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion. Egypt's first governor was Samuel Baker, commissioned in 1869, followed by Charles George Gordon in 1874 and by Emin Pasha in 1878. The Mahdist Revolt of the 1880s destabilised the nascent province, and Equatoria ceased to exist as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile and Wadelai. In 1947, British hopes to join South Sudan with Uganda were dashed by the Juba Conference to unify North and South Sudan.
South Sudan has an estimated population of 8 million,[19] but, given the lack of a census in several decades, this estimate may be severely distorted. The economy is predominantly rural and relies chiefly on subsistence farming.[19] Around 2005, the economy began a transition from this rural dominance, and urban areas within South Sudan have seen extensive development. The region has been negatively affected by two civil wars since Sudanese independence: from 1955 to 1972, the Sudanese government fought the Anyanya rebel army during the First Sudanese Civil War, followed by the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) in the Second Sudanese Civil War for over twenty years. As a result, the country suffered serious neglect, a lack of infrastructural development and major destruction and displacement. More than 2.5 million people have been killed and millions more have become refugees both within and outside the country
Between 9 and 15 January 2011, a referendum was held to determine whether South Sudan should declare independence from Sudan. 98.83% of the population voted for independence. (The results for that referendum were released on 30 January 2011.)[20] Those living in the north and expatriates living overseas also voted.[21] This led to a formal independence on 9 July, although certain disputes still remain, such as sharing of the oil revenues, as an estimated 80% of the oil in the nation is secured from South Sudan, which would represent amazing economic potential for one of the world's most deprived areas. The region of Abyei still remains disputed and a separate referendum will be held in Abyei on whether they want to join Sudan or South Sudan.[22] The South Kordofan conflict broke out in June 2011 between the Army of Sudan and the SPLA over the Nuba Mountains.
South Sudan is at war with at least seven armed groups in 9 of its 10 states, with tens of thousands displaced.[23] The fighters accuse the government of plotting to stay in power indefinitely, not fairly representing and supporting all tribal groups while neglecting development in rural areas.[23][24] Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) also operates in a wide area that includes South Sudan.[25]
Inter-ethnic warfare that in some cases predates the war of independence is widespread.[26] In December 2011, tribal clashes in Jonglei intensified between the Nuer White Army of the Lou Nuer and the Murle.[27] The White Army warned it would wipe out the Murle and would also fight South Sudanese and UN forces sent to the area around Pibor.[28]
In March 2012, South Sudanese forces seized the Heglig oil fields in lands claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan in the province of South Kordofan after conflict with Sudanese forces in the South Sudanese state of Unity.[29] South Sudan withdrew on March 20, and the Sudanese Army entered Heglig two days later.

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April 3rd, 2013

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