South Sudan (/ˌsaʊθ suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future. South Sudan is bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the west, and Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal.

The modern states of South Sudan and Sudan were part of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, later being governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed.

South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011. It is a United Nations member state, a member state of the African Union, and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world, with among the worst public health situations of any country.

The Nilotic peoples—the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk and others—first entered South Sudan sometime before the 10th century. During the period from the 15th century to the 19th century, tribal migrations, largely from the area of Bahr el Ghazal, brought these peoples to their modern locations. The non-Nilotic Azande people, who entered South Sudan in the 16th century, established the region's largest state. The Azande are the third or fourth largest ethnic group in South Sudan (either the Azande or the Bari are third largest). They are found in the Maridi, Yambio, and Tambura districts in the tropical rainforest belt of Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal. In the 18th century, the Avungara sib rose to power over the rest of Azande society and this domination continued into the 20th century. Geographical barriers prevented the spread of Islam to the southerners, thus enabling them to retain their social and cultural heritage as well as their political and religious institutions.

The Azande have had difficult relations with the neighbours, namely the Moru, Mundu, Pöjulu, and the small groups in Bahr el Ghazal, due to the expansionist policy of their King, Gbudwe, in the 18th century. In the nineteenth century the Azande fought the French, the Belgians and the Mahdists to maintain their independence. Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, first attempted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion. Egypt's first governor was Samuel Baker, commissioned in 1869, followed by Charles George Gordon in 1874 and by Emin Pasha in 1878. The Mahdist Revolt of the 1880s destabilised the nascent province, and Equatoria ceased to exist as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile and Wadelai. In 1947, British hopes to join South Sudan with Uganda were dashed by the Juba Conference to unify North and South Sudan.

It is estimated that South Sudan region has a population of 8 million, but given the lack of a census in several decades, this estimate may be severely distorted. The economy is predominantly rural and relies chiefly on subsistence farming. In the middle of the 2000s, the economy began a transition from this rural dominance and urban areas within South Sudan have seen extensive development. The region has been negatively affected by two civil wars since Sudanese independence – the Sudanese government fought the Anyanya rebel army from 1955 to 1972 in the First Sudanese Civil War and then the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) in the Second Sudanese Civil War for almost twenty-one years after the founding of SPLA/M in 1983 – resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructural development, and major destruction and displacement. More than 2.5 million people have been killed, and more than 5 million have become externally displaced while others have been internally displaced, becoming refugees as a result of the civil war and war-related impacts.

A referendum was held from 9 to 15 January 2011 to determine if South Sudan should declare its independence from Sudan, with 98.83% of the population voting for independence. (The results for that referendum were released on 30 January 2011.) Those living in the north and expatriates living overseas also voted. This led to a formal independence on 9 July, although certain disputes still remain such as sharing of the oil revenues as an estimated 80% of the oil in the nation is secured from South Sudan, which would represent amazing economic potential for one of the world's most deprived areas. The region of Abyei still remains disputed and a separate referendum will be held in Abyei on whether they want to join North or South Sudan. The South Kordofan conflict broke out in June 2011 between the Army of Sudan and the SPLA over the Nuba Mountains.

Interethnic warfare that in some cases precedes the war of independence is widespread. Some of these hostilities occurred in Jonglei state, affecting the Murle tribe, and were documented by Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report.

South Sudan is at war with at least seven armed groups in nine of its ten states, with tens of thousands displaced. The fighters accuse the government of plotting to stay in power indefinitely, not fairly representing and supporting all tribal groups while neglecting development in rural areas.

Games and sports

Many traditional and modern games and sports are popular in South Sudan, particularly wrestling and mock battles. The traditional sports were mainly played after the harvest seasons to celebrate the harvests and finish the farming seasons. The wrestlers were generally strong, well-trained young men. During the matches, they smeared themselves with ochre – perhaps to enhance the grip or heighten their perception. The matches attracted large numbers of spectators who sang, played drums and danced in support of their favourite wrestlers. Though these were perceived as competition, they were primarily for entertainment.

In the modern era, South Sudanese have excelled in international sports. Luol Deng is a basketball star with the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association. Other leading international basketball players from South Sudan include Manute Bol, Ajou Deng, Kueth Duany, Deng Gai and Ater Majok. The South Sudan national basketball team played its first match against Uganda national basketball team on 10 July 2011 in Juba.

Association football is also becoming popular in South Sudan, and there are many initiatives by the Government of South Sudan and other partners to promote the sport and improve the level of play. One of these initiatives is South Sudan Youth Sports Association (SSYSA). SSYSA is already holding soccer clinics in Konyokonyo and Muniki areas of Juba in which young boys are coached. In recognition of these efforts with youth soccer, the country recently hosted the CECAFA youth soccer competitions. Barely a month earlier, it had also hosted the larger East African Schools Sports tournaments. The South Sudan national association football team was formed in May 2011, although it does not have membership of FIFA. The team played its first match against Tusker FC of the Kenyan Premier League on 10 July 2011 in Juba, scoring early but losing 1–3 to the more experienced team. According to Salih Samuel, the football team's coach, South Sudan is preparing to apply to join the Confederation of African Football, a branch of FIFA.

South Sudan lies between latitudes 3° and 13°N, and longitudes 24° and 36°E. It is covered in tropical forest, swamps, and grassland. The White Nile passes through the country, passing by Juba.

Fauna, flora, and mycobiota

South Sudan's protected area of Bandingilo National Park hosts the second-largest wildlife migration in the world. Surveys have revealed that Boma National Park, west of the Ethiopian border, as well as the Sudd wetland and Southern National Park near the border with Congo, provided habitat for large populations of hartebeest, kob, topi, buffalo, elephants, giraffes, and lions. South Sudan's forest reserves also provided habitat for bongo, giant forest hogs, Red River hogs, forest elephants, chimpanzees, and forest monkeys. Surveys begun in 2005 by WCS in partnership with the semi-autonomous government of Southern Sudan revealed that significant, though diminished wildlife populations still exist, and that, astonishingly, the huge migration of 1.3 million antelopes in the southeast is substantially intact.

Habitats in the country include grasslands, high-altitude plateaus and escarpments, wooded and grassy savannas, floodplains, and wetlands. Associated wildlife species include the endemic white-eared kob and Nile Lechwe, as well as elephants, giraffes, common eland, giant eland, oryx, lions, African wild dogs, cape buffalo, and topi (locally called tiang). Little is known about the white-eared kob and tiang, both types of antelope, whose magnificent migrations were legendary before the civil war. The Boma-Jonglei Landscape region encompasses Boma National Park, broad pasturelands and floodplains, Bandingilo National Park, and the Sudd, a vast area of swamp and seasonally-flooded grasslands that includes the Zeraf Wildlife Reserve.

Little is known of the fungi of South Sudan. A list of fungi in Sudan was prepared by S.A.J. Tarr and published by the then Commonwealth Mycological Institute (Kew, Surrey, UK) in 1955. The list, of 383 species in 175 genera, included all fungi observed within the then boundaries of the country. Many of those records relate to what is now South Sudan. Most of the species recorded were associated with diseases of crops. The true number of species of fungi occurring in South Sudan is likely to be much higher. Nothing is known of the conservation status of fungi in South Sudan although, like animals and plants, they are likely to be affected by climate change, pollution, and other threats.

In 2006, President Kiir announced that his government would do everything possible to protect and propagate South Sudanese fauna and flora, and seek to reduce the effects of wildfires, waste dumping, and water pollution. The environment is threatened by the development of the economy and infrastructure.

Several ecoregions extend across South Sudan: the East Sudanian savanna, Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic, Saharan flooded grasslands (Sudd), Sahelian Acacia savanna, East African montane forests, and the Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets.