Qualla: South Sudan

South Sudan: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ranjit Bhaskar, via Al Jazeera English., CC BY-SA 2.0. On July 9, 2011, church bells rang across Juba. Crowds danced in streets that had known little cause for celebration. After decades of civil war that killed over a million people, after a referendum in which nearly 99 percent voted yes, South Sudan became a country. It was the first new nation of the twenty-first century's second decade, and the youngest in the world. The euphoria was genuine. So was the weight of what came next -- building a state from scratch in a landlocked territory the size of France, with almost no paved roads, more than sixty distinct ethnic groups, and neighbors whose interests did not always align with its own.

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Image: Ranjit Bhaskar, via Al Jazeera English. | CC BY-SA 2.0

South Sudan: A Nation Forged in Conflict

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dennisdenaya, CC BY-SA 4.0. South Sudan's path to independence runs through one of Africa's longest civil wars. The conflict between the northern Sudanese government in Khartoum and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army lasted decades, displacing millions and devastating communities across the region....

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Image: Dennisdenaya | CC BY-SA 4.0

South Sudan: The Sudd and the White Nile

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit JennaCB123, CC BY-SA 3.0. From the air, South Sudan's defining feature is water. The White Nile threads through the country's heart, and where it spreads across the flat clay plains, it creates the Sudd -- one of the largest wetland systems on Earth. During the rainy season, this vast swamp can expand to ...

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Image: JennaCB123 | CC BY-SA 3.0

South Sudan: Sixty Nations Under One Flag

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rejoice Martin Kubaya, CC BY-SA 4.0. More than sixty indigenous ethnic groups call South Sudan home. The Dinka, comprising roughly 40 percent of the population, are the largest, but the human tapestry includes Nuer, Shilluk, Zande, Bari, and dozens of others, each with distinct languages, traditions, and histories. ...

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Image: Rejoice Martin Kubaya | CC BY-SA 4.0

South Sudan: Wild Frontiers

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bertramz, CC BY-SA 3.0. South Sudan harbors some of Africa's most extraordinary and least-visited wildlife. Boma National Park and Nimule National Park, which sits along the Ugandan border, protect ecosystems that include what scientists have documented as one of the largest mammal migrations on the pla...

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Image: Bertramz | CC BY-SA 3.0

South Sudan: Tastes of a Young Nation

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Richard Buchta (1845-1894), Public domain. South Sudanese cuisine reflects both the land and its crossroads position between East and Central Africa and the Arab world. Kisra, the national dish, is a sorghum pancake -- darker and more fermented than Ethiopian injera, with a distinctive sour tang. It accompanies stews, gri...

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Image: Richard Buchta (1845-1894) | Public domain