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Southern Sudan is a region of Sudan, comprising ten of that country's provinces. The Sudanese government agreed to give autonomy to the region in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, also known as the Naivasha Agreement) signed on January 9, 2005 in Naivasha, Kenya with the SPLA/M, tentatively bringing an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War. Southern Sudan borders Ethiopia on the east, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, and the Central African Republic to the west. To the north lies the predominantly Arab and Muslim region directly under the control of the central government.
Southern Sudan, also known as New Sudan, has nearly all of its administrative offices in Juba, the capital, which is also the largest city, based on population estimates.
The Southern Sudanese predominantly practice Christianity (particularly Episcopal Church of the Sudan and the Roman Catholic Church) or traditional indigenous beliefs. The South also contains many ethnic groups and many more languages than used in the north. Without a proper census and given polygamy and large families, estimations of tribal proportions are near impossible of the 50 plus tribes in the South. However, it is widely agreed that the two largest tribes in the South are Nuer and Dinka. Other Nilotic tribes include the Shilluk. The Azande, Moru, and Jo Luo are 'Sudanic' tribes in the west, and the Acholi, Lotuho,Diding'a, Toposa(Humi), Buya(Narim),Murle,Bari, Madi, Kuku, Kakwa, Nyangwara, Baka, Mundu, Makraka, Avukaya, and many other southern sudanese tribes, live in the extreme south, extending into Uganda.
Dinkas have dominated the political arena especially with the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior and now with the current President of the South, General Salva Kiir Mayardit. Given the diversity of Southern Sudan, this has created tensions. In addition, the oil and other mineral wealth of the South lies on what is known as Nuerland which has a high concentration of Nuers including Unity and Upper Nile states but Nuer are underrepresented in the Government of Southern Sudan.
After the death of Garang, former rebel enemies, the SPLA and the SSDF (South South Defence Force), merged in January 2006 under the Juba Declaration. Ironically, the SSDF was founded by the current vice president of the South, Dr. Riek Machar who later defected to the SPLM/A in 1999. General Paulino Matip Nhial became the chief of staff (head) of the SSDF after Machar. Under the Juba Declaration, General Matip became the deputy commander in chief of the SPLA and his forces from the SSDF were integrated into the SPLA, swelling its ranks from 30,000 to 90,000 troops.
The distinctive Juba Arabic language is a widely used lingua franca in Southern Sudan. Yet, the language of education and government business is English. Juba Arabic language (Arabi Juba) is derived mostly from the Bari tribal native tongue. The Bari Tribe is considered the heart of Juba or Juba na Bari. Furthermore, two widely used African languages are Thuongjang and Nuer. Thuongjang (Dinka) is officially and culturally active in the states of North Barh al Ghazal, West Barh al Ghazal, Lakes, Warab, Jonglei, and autonomous independent Abiey. Nuer is active in Unity State and Upper Nile state.
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Southern Sudan - ©2006 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
