South Sudan — very closed country. No, the laws do not prevent tourists from traveling in this direction, but strict local customs, lack of safety on the streets and many other similar factors scare away almost all adventure tourism enthusiasts. Only the most desperate independent travelers get into South Sudan.
Interesting facts about South Sudan
- South Sudan is the youngest state on Earth whose independence is recognized by the international community. The sovereignty of the southern provinces of Sudan came into force in June 2011, at the same time the new country became a member of the UN.
- The southern and northern provinces of Sudan were actually divided for almost the entire history of the state – the Anglo-Egyptian colonialists introduced separate administration of these parts of the country and visas between them. When these artificial barriers were removed, a civil war broke out between northern Arabs and black southerners, which dragged on for 17 years (interesting facts about Sudan).
- After 10 years of relative peace, a military coup took place in Sudan, launching a new round Islamization – as soon as the authorities legalized public flogging, chopping off hands and stoning, the inhabitants of the south again took up arms. During the 20 years of civil war, government troops, according to some sources, killed more than 2 million civilians.
- In 2011, a referendum was held on the secession of South Sudan. The idea of independence was supported by almost 99% of the southerners who took part in the plebiscite.
- Independence did not bring peace and prosperity to South Sudan – at least 7 armed groups operate in the country, conflicts and uprisings continue. Territorial disputes with Sudan are also far from being resolved.
- Unlike most other countries in Africa, all the lands of this country are covered with forests – monsoon and equatorial.
- South Sudan plans to significantly replenish its treasury by selling domains in the.ss zone to various associations. Revenues will probably be substantial enough to allow the country to get off the “oil needle”.
- The level of the spread of the immunodeficiency virus among the inhabitants of South Sudan is one of the highest on the planet (the number of people infected with HIV here is twice as high as in neighboring Sudan).
- Several rare diseases have been recorded in South Sudan that are found nowhere else in the world. One of them is nodding syndrome, which mainly affects children aged 5 to 15 years. Patients have seizures during which the gaze becomes indifferent and motionless, and the head drops and rises every 5-8 seconds. Doctors have found that the disease gradually leads to brain degradation, but neither the cause of this syndrome, nor the methods of its treatment are still known.
- The official language of South Sudan is English, although most of the locals do not know it. In reality, southerners speak several African languages and their dialects, the most popular language is Dinka (interesting facts about the languages of the world).
- About 570 peoples and ethnic groups live in this country.
- Only 27% of the adult population is literate here, of which only 16% — women.
- The capital of South Sudan, Juba, is built up with round clay houses with thatched roofs and one-story brick warehouses. Most metropolitan streets have never even tried to pave.