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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A snapshot of South Sudan

KAMPALA, Uganda – South Sudan since Dec. 15 has been hit by escalating violence that has raised fears of civil war in the oil-producing East African nation.

Here’s a look at the world’s newest nation:

Independence

Following a 2005 peace deal reached after decades of a brutal war with Sudan, the people of southern Sudan in January 2011 voted overwhelmingly to secede. South Sudan became an independent country later in 2011. The two Sudans frequently accuse each other of supporting rebels across the border. Even before the latest unrest, South Sudan’s military was trying to quell a rebellion in its largest state, Jonglei. The two countries have issues left over from the 2005 peace deal; the most contentious are the separation of their once-unified oil industry and the demarcation of the border.

Population

Roughly the size of France, the landlocked South Sudan has a population of at least 10.8 million. The population is largely young, with 51 percent under the age of 18. Only 27 percent of people aged 15 and older are literate, according to the World Bank. Annual per capita income was $790 in 2012 and at least 50 percent of the people are poor, the World Bank said. South Sudan, which is largely Christian and animist, has many ethnic groups. The dominant ones are the Dinka, the largest, and the Nuer, the second-largest; the two groups have a history of ethnic tension.

Oil and the economy

South Sudan inherited three-quarters of Sudan’s oil production when it declared independence in 2011, but its oil exports are pumped through pipelines running north into Sudan. South Sudan gets nearly 99 percent of its government budget from oil revenues, and the country reportedly earned $1.3 billion in oil sales in just five months this year, according to the watchdog group Global Witness. Oil has been a constant source of tension with Sudan, and last year sparked a military confrontation between the two sides when the south captured the disputed town of Heglig, which is responsible for more than half of Sudan’s oil production. Without a history of formal institutions, rules or administration accepted as legitimate by its society, South Sudan’s government “still struggles to provide basic services to the population,” according to the World Bank.

Associated Press