South Sudan

• hot with seasonal rainfall influenced by the annual shift of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone;
• rainfall heaviest in upland areas of the south and diminishes to the north

• plains in the north and center rise to southern highlands along the border with Uganda and Kenya;
• the White Nile, flowing north out of the uplands of Central Africa, is the major geographic feature of the country;
• The Sudd (a name derived from floating vegetation that hinders navigation) is a large swampy area of more than 100,000 sq km fed by the waters of the White Nile that dominates the center of the country

noun:

South Sudanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

South Sudanese

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne disease:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria, dengue fever, trypanosomiasis-Gambiense (African sleeping sickness)

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2013)

conventional long form:

Republic of South Sudan

conventional short form:

South Sudan

name:

Juba

geographic coordinates:

04 51 N 31 37 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• previous 2005 (preindependence);
• latest signed 7 July 2011, effective 9 July 2011 (Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011);
• amended 2015 (2015)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of South Sudan

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

chief of state:

• President Salva KIIR Mayardit (since 9 July 2011);
• Vice President James Wani IGGA (since 23 August 2013);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Salva KIIR Mayardit (since 9 July 2011); Vice President James Wani IGGA (since 23 August 2013)

cabinet:

National Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by National Legislative Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 11-15 April 2010 (the next election has been postponed from 2015 to 2018 due to instability and violence)

election results:

Salva KIIR Mayardit elected president; percent of vote - Salva KIIR Mayardit (SPLM) 93%, Lam AKOL (SPLM-DC) 7%

description:

bicameral National Legislature consists of the Council of States (50 seats; the Council of States, established by presidential decree in August 2011, includes 50 members - 20 former members of the Council of States and 30 appointed representatives ) and the National Legislative Assembly (332 seats; the National Assembly, also established by presidential decree in August 2011, includes 170 members elected in April 2010, 96 members of the former National Assembly, and 66 newly appointed members)

elections:

• National Legislative Assembly - last held 11-15 April 2010 but did not take office until July 2011;
• because of political instability, current parliamentary term extended until next election on 9 July 2018);
• Council of States - established and members appointed 1 August 2011

election results:

• National Legislative Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - SPLM 251, SPLM-DC 6, NCP 3, independent 6, unknown 66;
• Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - SPLM 20, unknown 30

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of South Sudan (consists of 7 justices including the court president and deputy president and organized into panels of 3 justices except when sitting as a Constitutional panel of all 7 justices)

judge selection and term of office:

judges appointed by the president upon proposal of the Judicial Service Council, a 9-member judicial and administrative body; judge tenure NA

subordinate courts:

• national level - Courts of Appeal;
• High Courts;
• County Courts;
• state level - High Courts;
• County Courts;
• customary courts;
• other specialized courts and tribunals

• National Congress Party of NCP [Omar al-BASHIR]
• Sudan People's Liberation Movement or SPLM [Salva KIIR Mayardit]
• Sudan People's Liberation Movement for Democratic Change or SPLM-DC [Lam AKOL]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Garang Diing AKUONG (since 23 February 2015)

chancery:

1015 31st St., NW, Third Floor, Washington, DC, 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 293-7940

FAX:

[1] (202) 293-7941

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mary Catherine PHEE (since July 2015)

embassy:

Kololo Road adjacent to the EU's compound, Juba

telephone:

[211] (0) 912-105-188

• three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green;
• the red band is edged in white;
• a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side contains a gold, five-pointed star;
• black represents the people of South Sudan, red the blood shed in the struggle for freedom, green the verdant land, and blue the waters of the Nile;
• the gold star represents the unity of the states making up South Sudan

note: resembles the flag of Kenya; one of only two national flags to display six colors as part of its primary design, the other is South Africa's

name:

South Sudan Oyee! (Hooray!)

lyrics/music:

collective of 49 poets/Juba University students and teachers

note: adopted 2011; anthem selected in a national contest

• TV is controlled by the government;
• several private FM stations are operational in South Sudan;
• some foreign radio broadcasts are available

• 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
• the Government of South Sudan signed a revised action plan with the UN in March 2012 to demobilize all child soldiers within the SPLA;
• UNICEF reported 250 confirmed cases of the SPLA's association with children at the end of 2012 (2012)

• South Sudan-Sudan boundary represents 1 January 1956 alignment, final alignment pending negotiations and demarcation;
• final sovereignty status of Abyei Area pending negotiations between South Sudan and Sudan;
• periodic violent skirmishes with South Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic;
• the boundary that separates Kenya and South Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times

refugees (country of origin):

242,473 (Sudan); 15,689 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2015)

IDPs:

1,696,962 (alleged coup attempt and ethnic conflict beginning in December 2013; information is lacking on those displaced in earlier years by: fighting in Abyei between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in May 2011; clashes between the SPLA and dissident militia groups in South Sudan; inter-ethnic conflicts over resources and cattle; attacks from the Lord's Resistance Army; floods and drought) (2015)

current situation:

• South Sudan is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• South Sudanese women and girls, particularly those who are internally displaced, orphaned, or from rural areas, are vulnerable to forced labor and sexual exploitation, often in urban centers;
• the rising number of street children and child laborers are also exploited for forced labor and prostitution;
• women and girls from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are trafficked to South Sudan with promises of legitimate jobs and are forced into the sex trade;
• inter-ethnic abductions continue between some communities in South Sudan, with abductees subsequently faced with domestic servitude, forced herding, or sex trafficking;
• government security forces and armed militia groups continue to recruit children

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - South Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
• implementation of a UN-backed action plan to eliminate the use of child soldiers in the country’s armed forces continued in 2013, but no officers complicit in the ongoing recruitment of children were investigated, prosecuted, or punished;
• efforts to address other forms of human trafficking were negligible;
• South Sudanese law does not prohibit all forms of human trafficking, and authorities did not investigate or prosecute any offenders;
• limited protection was provided to former child soldiers in 2013, while no steps were taken to identify victims of sex or labor trafficking or to refer them to care (2014)