Tuesday, February 8, 2011

South Sudan is a new country


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Southern Sudan, (Arabic: جنوب السودان‎, Janūb as-Sūdān) also known as South Sudan, is an autonomous region in the southern part of the Sudan, soon to become an independent country. Juba is its capital city. It is bordered by Ethiopia to 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, with its capital at Khartoum. Southern Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jebel. The region's autonomous status is a condition of a peace agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) and the Government of Sudan represented by the National Congress Party ending the Second Sudanese Civil War. The conflict was Africa's longest running civil war

Wrong Perception of civil war

North Sudan has historically had close ties with Egypt and is predominantly Arab and Muslim. Sudanese Arabs are, to the distinction of Middle Eastern Arabs, primarily descended from Nubians, who were arabised through immigration, intermarriage, and the introduction of Islam and the Arabic language. British colonial powers exacerbated the differences between the northern and southern parts of Sudan and arguably laid the seed for the conflict that followed after Sudan declared its independence in 1956.

There is wrong perception that the civil war of Sudan is war between Islamic Sudan of the North, and Christian South Sudan. North Sudan's population is mainly Arab and Muslim. South Sudan is predominantly Animists with a Christian minority (15 to 20%), so it is not Christian majority, but animists majority.

So it is not civil war based on religion, it is not religion war. It is political....

South Sudan independence
A referendum on independence for Southern Sudan was held from 9–15 January 2011. Preliminary results released by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission on 30 January 2011 indicate that 98% of voters selected the "separation" option, with 1% selecting "unity". The final resuls were announced on 7 February with 98.83% of the electorate opting for secession. The Sudanese Government accepted the outcome of the referendum the same day. Southern Sudan is expected to become an independent country on 9 July 2011.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) defines Southern Sudan as three southern provinces (Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper Nile) of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region, leaving out Nuba Mountains, Abyei and Blue Nile. Abyei will hold a referendum on joining Southern Sudan or staying under Sudanese control, while Nuba Mountains (South Kurdufan as a whole) and Blue Nile are required to hold ill-defined "popular consultations".





Related articles
(i)North Sudan separatists celebrate referendum result in Khartoum,http://www.sudantribune.com/North-Sudan-separatists-celebrate,37912
(2)It's official: South Sudan set to secede with a 99.57 percent vote, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0130/It-s-official-South-Sudan-set-to-secede-with-a-99.57-percent-vote
(3)South Sudan votes to secede, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112714264792774.html

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