Southern Sudan is a region of Sudan. The Sudanese government agreed to give autonomy to the region in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (also known as the Naivasha Agreement) signed on January 9, 2005 in Naivasha, Kenya with the SPLA/M, 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, while the largest city and commercial centre is in Yei, towards the south.
The southern Sudanese practice mainly indigenous traditional beliefs, although many follow Christianity, particularly Catholicism or the Assemblies of God. The south also contains many tribal groups and many more languages than used in the north. The Dinka, whose population is estimated at more than 4 million, is the largest of the many black African tribes of the Sudan. Other Nilotic tribes are the Shilluk and the Nuer. The Azande, and Jo Luo are ‘Sudanic’ tribes in the west, and the Acholi and Lotuhu live in the extreme south, extending into Uganda.
Legal and administrative structure
Following the Naivasha Agreement which granted autonomy to Southern Sudan, the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan was adopted in December 2005, leading to the creation of the Government of Southern Sudan.
Southern Sudan consists of the ten states, formerly composing the provinces of Equatoria (Central Equatoria, East Equatoria, and West Equatoria), Bahr el Ghazal (North Bahr al Ghazal, West Bahr al Ghazal, Lakes, and Warab), and Upper Nile (Junqali, Wahdah, and Upper Nile).
Pending elections, seats in both the Southern Sudan Assembly and the Government of the Southern Sudan are to be divided in a fixed proportion between the SPLM (70%), the NCP (the former NIF) (15%), and “other Southern political forces” (15%). Before his death on 30 July 2005, long time rebel leader John Garang was the President of Southern Sudan. Garang was succeeded by Salva Kiir Mayardit who was sworn in as first vice president of Sudan on 11 August 2005.
Modern history
The Southern region has a population of around 11 million and a predominantly rural, subsistence economy. This region has been negatively affected by the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars for all but 10 years since independence in 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement.
In recent years, a significant amount of foreign-based oil drilling has begun in Southern Sudan, raising the land's geopolitical profile abroad. An independence movement is active in Southern Sudan. A referendum on independence is scheduled for 2011.