Country Name: South Sudan
Official Name: Republic of South Sudan
News Categories: Recognition, New Countries
Summary: Newly independent South Sudan has continued to be officially recognized by more of the world's countries in the follow-up to its formation last July. The new state, whose sovereignty has already been acknowledged through admission to the U.N. and African Union, has also initiated a plan to move its capital from Juba to the more central location of Ramciel.
See Also: New Country: South Sudan
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| Countries which have officially stated their recognition of South Sudan's sovereignty (green). South Sudan in blue. Modified from this Wikimedia map (public domain). |
Full Story
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| South Sudan's Coat of Arms (source) |
The result of a peace agreement ending a long and bloody civil war, the official split between South Sudan and Sudan came on July 9th of this year. Since its declaration of independence had been pre-approved through treaty and diplomatic channels, the new Republic of South Sudan was immediately accepted onto the international stage, with dozens of countries rushing to grant it diplomatic recognition. It was welcomed into the United Nations within the week, and by the end of the month held a seat in the African Union. South Sudan has so far received formal recognition from 114 U.N. member states, as well as six non-members. However, since the country already holds a seat in the U.N. itself, and its independence was not opposed by any countries, new recognitions have since slowed due to their limited significance. Since the beginning of August, 10 more countries have recognized South Sudan, with the last newly reported recognition coming from Jamaica on October 6th. (Note: seven other states which recognized the country before August were were omitted from
my last update due to lack of information.)
Wikipedia: Foreign Relations of South Sudan
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South Sudan's states and disputed regions (pink), showing the current
capital (Juba) and the planned future capital (Ramciel). My own work,
Based on this map by NordNordWest/Wikipedia (license: CC-BY-SA). |
South Sudan's capital is currently located in the Juba, also its largest city, which is located on the White Nile river in the south of the country. However, there have long been proposals to move the capital to a more central location, and in September the government announced the official location of South Sudan's next capital, a city which will be planned and built near the meeting point of the country's three traditional provinces (now divided into a number of smaller states). The site is known as Ramciel, and is said to have been advocated by John Garang, southern Sudan's leader from the civil war period, who died in a helicopter crash six years before the country achieved its official independence.
See Also: South Sudan Joins U.N.
Wikipedia: South Sudan
