South Sudan is a country in Africa, known for the White Nile and diverse ethnic heritage. It has a population of over 12 million, making it the 81st largest country in the world. Its capital is Juba. South Sudan has a oil-dependent economy with agricultural potential.
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It is estimated that around 11% of South Sudanese people were not surveyed, which, if correct, would mean that the population of South Sudan in 2008 was around 9.28 million people. The South Sudan population in 2011 was considerably higher - perhaps as much as 10-12 million.
There are more than 60 ethnic groups in South Sudan, including the Dinka, and also many different languages spoken. The vast majority of people in South Sudan speak one of the Nilo-Saharan languages, but the official language is English, and this is also fairly widely spoken.
Data on religion in South Sudan is also extremely limited. As well as indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam have prospered in South Sudan. The last census in South Sudan to survey religion, however, was held in the 1950s.
South Sudan is a fairly religiously divided nation. The top two faiths are traditional African religions and Christianity, and the percentages of each vary depending on who you ask. A study, “Religion in South Sudan,” by the Pew Research on Religion, stated that South Sudan’s population are 60.5% Christian, 32.9% follow traditional African religion, 6.2% are Muslim, and 0.4% are considered “other.”
All of the years of civil war in South Sudan has left its economy very weak and underdeveloped. South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest countries, and they have one of the highest maternal mortality and female illiteracy rates in the world. Most homes lack electricity or running water, and paved roads are very uncommon. The largest industry in South Sudan in the international export of lumber. The country also contains many natural resources like copper, chromium, zinc, iron ore, petroleum, mica, silver, gold, and hydropower. The economy is also heavily reliant on agricultural products like cotton, groundnuts, wheat, sugarcane, mangos, bananas, and sweet potatoes.
South Sudan is a relatively new country and doesn’t have much of an extensive history. Sudan didn’t become an independent nation until 1956 and experienced a few decades of civil unrest as the country settled. The United States launched a missile attack against a pharmaceutical plant in the city of Khartoum, claiming that they were producing chemical weapons. South Sudan participated in the United Nations efforts to end the genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s. The population increased significantly during this period because of the number of refugees in the region. South Sudan ceded from the rest of Sudan in 2011.