Demography and economic geography. – Central-eastern African state. The country is the youngest state in Africa, formed on 9 July 2011 following the 2005 peace accords between the government of Sudan and the People’s Liberation Movement of Sudan (SPLM) and the referendum for self-determination (January 2011), in which 98% of the population (8,260,490 residents, at the 2008 census; 11,738,718 residents, according to an estimate by UNDESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of 2014) opted for secession. Most of the residents (with an annual growth rate of 4.0% in the period 2010-15, among the highest in the world) belong to the Dinka (38%) and Nuer (17%). The urbanization rate is very low even if, with independence, the capital Juba (230,195 residents, 2008; 307,000 residents, According to an estimate of 2014) is experiencing one of the fastest development and population growth in Africa..
According to localcollegeexplorer, the conditions of the population are extremely precarious: life expectancy of 55.3 years (2013); over 2% of adults with AIDS / HIV (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome / Human Immunodeficiency Virus); 31% of residents without access to drinking water; literacy rate at 27%. Various factors have further deteriorated the situation: the suspension of oil production in January 2012 (resumed after 10 months), as a retaliation against Sudan (all SS oil passes through Sudan’s infrastructure); the violence erupted in Juba in December 2013 (between forces loyal to the government of Salva Kiir and members of the army associated with Vice President Riek Machar) and extended mainly to the north-east and east of the country (about 50,000 dead and 1,500,000 displaced); tensions with Sudan in the Abyei area, claimed for oil reserves.
Ethnic composition
Then there are 241,000 refugees (UNHCR estimates, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, January 2015), mainly from Sudan (South Kurdufan and Blue Nile), but also from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Ethiopia. The repercussions on the economy, one of the most dependent on oil in the world, are heavy: almost 80% of GDP and all exports to China (72%) and Japan (21%). Livestock and agriculture (83% of the workforce) cover another 15% of GDP.
History. – After obtaining independence from Sudan (v.) On 9 July 2011, the SS, 54th African state, celebrated the proclamation of its birth in Juba, the country’s capital, where President Salva Kiir Mayardit, a Christian, former commander of the southern rebels who had fought for self-determination, swore allegiance to the new Constitutional Charter. In the aftermath of independence, tribal divisions and conflicts of power immediately threatened the process of internal cohesion, while the contrasts with Sudan, private, with the secession of the southern regions, of about three quarters of its oil production were of great concern. Some border areas remained at the center of a heated dispute: the question of the city of Abyei and the district of the same name, an important oil region, was unresolved.
In the first months of 2012, relations between the two countries degenerated and the SS suspended the export of oil, accusing Khartoum of stealing part of its production while it was passing through Sudanese oil pipelines, which the SS used to reach an outlet to the sea.. After a phase of confrontation, which saw rebel groups linked to the SS in action in southern Kurdufan, in September 2012 the presidents of the two countries signed a treaty for the creation of a demilitarized zone along a part of the disputed border and for the reopening, subject to prior economic agreement between the parties, of the Sudanese oil pipelines.
With the reduction of tension on the borders with Sudan, starting from 2013 tribal conflicts and power feuds erupted in the country which, within two years, brought the population to the brink of a humanitarian crisis, with over 10,000 dead, 1.5 million internally displaced persons and around 500,000 refugees in neighboring countries. A summit confrontation between Vice President Riek Machar, who was dismissed from office, and President Kiir Mayardit erupted in December 2013, when the regular army foiled the coup attempted by Machar and his men. After touching the capital Juba, which soon returned to government control, the fighting moved to various strategic areas of the country (Upper Nile, Jonglei), causing a food crisis that endangered the survival of millions of people. The rivalry between the two majority ethnic groups was reflected in this struggle for power, triggering a spiral of uncontrolled violence: the Dinka, more numerous, who supported President Kiir Mayardit, and the Nuer, represented by Machar. The violence of the ongoing clash dragged about 12,000 children into the conflict, hired by the regular army and by the rebels with roundups in schools and villages. Despite the signing of a peace agreement in February 2015, continued violations of the ceasefire and non-cooperation between the parties threatened a possible stabilization of the country. The violence of the ongoing clash dragged about 12,000 children into the conflict, hired by the regular army and by the rebels with roundups in schools and villages. Despite the signing of a peace agreement in February 2015, continued violations of the ceasefire and non-cooperation between the parties threatened a possible stabilization of the country. The violence of the ongoing clash dragged about 12,000 children into the conflict, hired by the regular army and by the rebels with roundups in schools and villages. Despite the signing of a peace agreement in February 2015, continued violations of the ceasefire and non-cooperation between the parties threatened a possible stabilization of the country.
