South Sudan observes East Africa Time: UTC+3, year-round, no daylight saving. The IANA identifier is Africa/Juba.

On July 9, 2011, South Sudan became the world’s newest independent state. The 2011 independence referendum produced one of the most lopsided electoral results in modern history: 98.83 percent voted for independence from Sudan.

Before independence

The conflict between northern and southern Sudan predates South Sudan’s independence by decades. The First Sudanese Civil War ran from 1955 to 1972. The Second Sudanese Civil War from 1983 to 2005 killed approximately two million people and displaced four million more. The southern population, predominantly Christian and animist, had long sought independence or autonomy from the Arab-Muslim northern government in Khartoum.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, brokered with international support, ended the second civil war and included a provision for a referendum on southern independence. The referendum was held in January 2011. The result was never in doubt.

Independence day

South Sudan’s independence was declared at midnight on July 9, 2011. The celebrations in Juba were enormous. Salva Kiir Mayardit, who had led the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, became the first president.

The country inherited the East Africa Time offset, UTC+3, which the region uses. Sudan, its former parent state, also uses UTC+3.

Civil war after independence

In December 2013, less than three years after independence, South Sudan descended into civil war between forces loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to his former vice president Riek Machar. The conflict split largely along ethnic lines between the Dinka (Kiir’s group) and the Nuer (Machar’s).

The war, which has ebbed and flowed through multiple peace agreements, has killed hundreds of thousands and created one of the world’s largest refugee crises. South Sudan has the distinction of being both the world’s newest country and one of the most conflict-affected.

The Nile headwaters

The White Nile flows north through South Sudan, fed by Lake Victoria and the Central African highlands. Juba, the capital, sits on the White Nile’s banks. The same river that was the cradle of Egyptian civilization passes through South Sudan at its source.

The Sudd, a vast swamp in South Sudan, is one of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands. It was an enormous obstacle to early explorers attempting to trace the Nile to its source in the 19th century.

For developers

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