South Sudan Research Paper

COUNTRY CONTEXT

Geography

As the youngest country in the world, South Sudan has faced a long list of hardships due to this nation's geographic profile. Situated in eastern Africa, South Sudan borders Ethiopia to the east, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Central African Republic to the west, and its former counterpart Sudan to its north. About the size of Texas with half its population, South Sudan is a relatively spread out country with 84% of its population living rurally in 2013. As of 2014 South Sudan had a population density of 18 capita per square kilometer, ranking it 179th globally in population density (9). South Sudan is home to one of the world's largest swamps, the Sudd, which covers more

Egypt, while under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, conquered Sudan in the early parts of the 19th Century. Egypt's new government in Sudan, known as the Turkiyah, was established in 1821. Initial conditions under Egyptian rule were disastrous; soldiers levied extortionate taxes on the natives, desecrated priceless historical structures, and expanded the slave trade. Slavery became more institutionalized in the nineteenth century while European powers like Britain curtailed slavery in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa (11). Britain’s successful attempt to quell the Sudanese slave trade adversely affected many in the northern region of Sudan who profited off the south’s slave trade. This economic blow to the predominantly Islamic territory of the country led to rising dissatisfaction with the European-aligned Egyptian government. Under the command of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Sudan fell into the control of Mahdist forces in 1885. Sudan was reconquered by the Egyptians in 1899 with the aid of the British (10). Britain, which had a staked interest in Sudan, signed an Anglo-Egyptian condominium in that same year which restored Egyptian rule over Sudan jointly with Great Britain. This agreement did little to specify the legal status of this new joint authority but it did stipulate that the “supreme military and civil command in Sudan shall be vested in one officer” appointed by the Royal Crown (10). It was clear that once Egypt signed this condominium with Britain everything this was about to