LAST YEAR, SOUTH SUDAN BECAME THE WOLRD’S NEWEST COUNTRY; HERE ARE THE BASIC DETAILS:

Sarah,

On July 9^th, 2011, after decades of civil war, South Sudan seceded from Sudan to become the world’s newest country.  It’s off to a rocky start.  Here are the details:

A Very Quick History:

Geography:

First, look at the map.  Note that the Blue Nile and the White Nile converge to form the Nile at Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.  This helps explain why Northern Sudan has enjoyed a historical advantage over Southern Sudan: it can access both tributaries and is closer to Egypt and the Mediterranean.

North Sudan is mostly desert, South Sudan is mostly grassland.  Both areas have oil.

Pre-Historic Times:

Humans originated in Africa around 100,000 B.C.  Anthropologists surmise that humans left Africa by slowly marching up the Nile; after a group consumed all the resources on a particular stretch of the river, they would continue north.

Ancient Times:

Egypt, just north of Sudan, emerged as one of the world's first civilizations around 6,000 B.C.  Later, the Kingdom of Kush emerged at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile.(present day Khartoum)  As a general rule, Egypt was more powerful than the Kingdom of Kush and the Kingdom of Kush was more powerful than tribes to the South.

Islam spreads to the North but not the South:

Starting around 650 A.D. Arab Muslims exploded out of Arabian Peninsula and started conquering everything in sight.  It did not take long before Northern Sudan fell under their sphere of influence.  Over the next couple hundred years, Northern Sudan was thoroughly Arabicized and converted to Islam, but South Sudan remained largely free of Arabic influence. 

Nilotic Tribes Migrate to South Sudan:

Starting around 900 A.D., Nilotic tribes migrated into South Sudan.  Nilotic people have dark skin, and tall, slender, bodies.  As a point of reference, most of the Kenyan runners that dominate long distance running are Nilotic.  The Maasai people are also Nilotic.

Thus, as early as 1,000 A.D., South Sudan was populated by Nilotic tribes and North Sudan was populated by a heavily Arabicized Muslim population.   

The British Isolate Then Reunite the North and the South:

The tribes of South Sudan lived in relative isolation until the late 1880’s when the British arrived and colonized Sudan.  The British did three things that pretty much ensured a future conflict between north and south:

1. North and South Sudan were governed by separate British administrations.  The British restricted north-south migration to prevent disease from spreading north and Islamic influence from spreading south.

2. They sent missionaries to convert the south to Christianity.  This led to further cultural divergence.  Currently, South Sudan practices a mix of indigenous religion and Christianity.

3.  In 1946, before leaving the area, the British merged South Sudan and North Sudan into a single entity and left officials from the North in control of the whole region. 

The First Really Long Civil War:

In 1953, Sudan gained independence.  South Sudan realized it would be dominated by the Northern government and immediately rebelled.  The war continued for twenty years until a cease fire was brokered in 1973.  The cease fire formed the self-governing Southern Sudan Autonomous Region. (almost independent but not quite)

The Second Really Long Civil War:

In 1983, Sudan violated the peace agreement and attempted to revoke the South’s autonomy.  By this date, vast quantities of oil had been discovered in the South and the government in Khartoum went ahead with a full scale invasion.

The war was beyond devastating.  Fighting and famine claimed over two million lives and reports of genocide and other atrocities were common.

Finally, in 2005, a peace agreement was reached with the help of the United Nations.  It provided that after a 6 year period, the people of South Sudan could vote to become independent.  In 2011 the vote was held and 98 percent of the population voted to secede and form the country of South Sudan.

Current Status of South Sudan:

To say South Sudan is facing some challenges would be an understatement.  Here are some problems facing the new country:

Economic Problems:

The economy of South Sudan is still in ruins; most of its infrastructure is destroyed and most people are subsistence farmers.  98 percent of the country’s revenue comes from oil.  Further, because South Sudan is landlocked, it is forced to export its oil through Sudan.  Accusations that Sudan steals its oil as it is being transported are commonplace.

In case you were wondering, the Chinese operate the majority oil facilities in the country.

Corrupt Politicians:

South Sudan is a democracy but its politics are dominated by the rebel groups that fought for its independence.  The most recent election was marred by intimidation and candidates linked with the rebels won the vast majority of seats in government.

The unity that was spurred by the common cause of independence is rapidly dissipating.

Almost all the country’s revenue goes to the army.

Corruption is rampant.  It is estimated that immediately after independence, more than four billion dollars in oil revenue was immediately embezzled by government officials.  This is an absolutely ridiculous number given the small size of Southern Sudan's economy.  It would be like officials in America embezzling a trillion dollars.

Refugees:

As many as one million refugees are present within the country.

The Threat of War:

Just over the border, Sudan is busy crushing local opposition.  Squabbles over the border and oil rights are common and could easily plunge the country back into war.

NOTE: This conflict is different from the one in Darfur.  Darfur is its own separate catastrophe.  A report on Darfur is forthcoming.

Bottom line: It's great South Sudan is independent but it has a very long road to stability.  Let’s hope things get better.


Sources: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/sudanthebreakup/2011/06/201162311444468410.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/southsudanindependence/2011/06/2011630102213823618.html, wikipedia, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/south-sudan/index.html