Independence Day of South Sudan

South Sudan or the Republic of South Sudan was officially declared an independent country from Sudan on 9 July 2011. This means that South Sudan celebrates its independence on 9 July. South Sudan’s independence was a result of a second Sudanese civil war that broke out in the year 1983 and went on till 2005, following which a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The agreement which was meant to end the civil war is also known as the ‘Naivasha Agreement’.

The landlocked country in the central African continent shares its borders with Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. The population of the country is over 10.2 (by 2020). South Sudan is also known as the ‘Nilotic Republic’ informally due to Nilotic peoples who are considered the indigenous residents of the Nile Valley with their main dialect being Nilotic languages.

Overview of the Independence of South Sudan

South Sudan’s independence is the result of two civil wars in Sudan which itself got independence from Egyptian rule under the Muhammad Ali dynasty in 1956, and until then it was governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium. The first civil war in the country erupted in 1955 and ended in 1972 claiming the lives of allegedly over half a million people during the period of clashes. It was majorly a conflict between the northern part of Sudan and the Southern Sudan that was demanding more representation and regional autonomy. Although, somehow the civil war ended in 1972 through a peace agreement.

However, the peace agreement could only retain normalcy amidst tensions until 1983 when the second civil war broke out in the country lasting for over 22 years until 2005, which ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement granting autonomy to southern Sudan leading to the formation of an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan in the same year. Later in the year 2011, a referendum was conducted, where over 98.83 percent of people voted in the favor of the independence of South Sudan and this is how the country got its independence.

Economy, Governance, and Post-Independence Situation of South Sudan

In terms of economy, South Sudan is among the countries that are underdeveloped with a poor existence of infrastructure, highest female illiteracy rate, and highest maternal mortality rate by the year 2011. Having the third-largest oil reserves in the Sub-Saharan African region, the oilfields contribute significantly to the economy of the country.

After independence in 2011, the constitution of South Sudan came into existence, and that established a presidential system of government where the head of the state is the president of the country as well the president is head of the government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first president of independent South Sudan.

Post-independence scenarios don’t seem pleasing in the country in terms of human rights as there have been reports of higher rates of child marriages, recruitment of child soldiers, and violations of minority rights.