South Sudan Independence: A Look At The World's Newest Country (PHOTOS)

With South Sudan's hour of independence drawing nearer, many locals are said to be in a contemplative mood, recalling their country's half-century worth of struggles on the road to becoming the world's newest nation.

"Tomorrow is a big day for the new nation, the Republic of South Sudan," 37-year-old John Kuach is quoted by the Associated Press as saying. "But some people are not happy because we lost heroes, those who were supposed to be in this celebration. So we are thinking, 'Is this true? Is this a dream? A new country?'"

And while the weekend's independence day festivities are sure to be jubilant -- with global leaders like U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice reported to be in attendance -- South Sudan will be one of the poorest and least-developed places on the planet, and unresolved tensions between the south and north could lead to fresh conflict along the new border.

Take a look at some facts and figures about South Sudan, courtesy of the Associated Press:

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Sudan is currently the largest country in Africa but on Saturday will lose the Texas-sized south, which becomes its own nation. South Sudan shares a 1,300 mile- (2,100-kilometer-) border with northern Sudan. South Sudan also will border Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Congo.

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Sudan is currently the largest country in Africa but on Saturday will lose the Texas-sized south, which becomes its own nation. South Sudan shares a 1,300 mile- (2,100-kilometer-) border with northern Sudan. South Sudan also will border Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Congo.

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[PreacherThug]

07:27 PM on 07/23/2011

My Sudanese neighbors were some of the hardest working people I knew and were fantastic parents. My only complaint about them is that they were somewhat obsessed about what they called the "lazy, violent American Black people." That surprised me.........

[veracruise]

03:17 AM on 07/12/2011

Finally, freedom from the Muslim North! It's about time. I hope the u.s. learn something from this, but they never will.

[aleks356]

12:57 AM on 07/12/2011

Cool. May they learn from the mistakes of the other African nations and not repeat them.

[philips0811]

05:14 PM on 07/11/2011

I wish them the best of luck and hope they find their George Washington. The usual pattern is: Strong Man and his tribe take over, keep everything from the sale of the resources, and the people still suffer. I hope they change the paradigm. In the 20 years after the US Constitution was signed, we fought with the Barbary pirates, the French, and the British. I hope they have better luck.

[TomTheSeal]

09:27 AM on 07/09/2011

Independence from the Muslim north. It seems that EVERYWHERE Muslim equates to violence.

[arkady967]

01:37 PM on 07/09/2011

The theory is, or one that I have seen is: Islam in peaceful until it reaches a critica population mass in an area, then it expesses it's militancy, until it becoms dominant, and can enforce it's will. At that point, the war continues, between factions of Islam.

We don't seem to get this story. Held up for our inspection are the members of this society vetted for our consumption, peaceful folk, "non-fundamentalist" types, i.e., like those who no longer actually believe in the doctrines of their religion. This is how it is portrayed to us, and for philosophical and cultural reasons, it is difficult for someone under a certain age to see it any other way, or report it otherwise - unless to lump fundamentalist Islam with fundamentalist Christianity (Though last time I looked, there were few calls to murder an artist who soaked a crucifix in urine at public expense. Try that with a quran, and see what happens, eh?)

[fussellboys]

08:03 AM on 07/09/2011

The South Sudanese shouldn't have to worry about US sanctions as they were against the Sudan.
I haven't seen but is that what the north is still called. What many don't realize and wasn't reported in the media, is the Islamic north was killing those to the south of the many non-Islamic religions.
This is a time where with South Sudanese permission, the UN (Useless Novices) should put
troops in to help protect the southerners until they are on their feet. As the points were made,
while Sudan has already recognized the south the resouces of oil, gold , copper, etc are in
dispute which could quickly lead to tensions. If they are in southern territory they are southern
assets and could be used to help the country feed and shelter itself plus build infrastructure.
Maybe they could give money to their citizens much like Alaska does with its' fund.
Good luck South Sudan.

[Ron Graham]

09:33 PM on 07/08/2011

I hope that anyone who invests in this new nation will do so with an eye towards the honest treatment of the citizens, and not by seeking to rob them under the guise of aiding them.. Though I realize that in the world today, there will be a good many who's only goal is the exploitation of a new, but underdeveloped country, especially one that is only now coming out of the shadow of a bloody civil war, with boundary lines & resources that are still in dispute.

There's also the danger presented in the form of other countries or nations trying to foment unrest among political & religious factions with the intent of enticing or pressing South Sudan into agreements or alliances that won't be in their best interests as a people or a country. The world needs to allow them the time to form a sense of self identity while assisting them in building an infrastructure along with schools, hospitals, clean water, and housing. Leave the politics, religious differences, and well meaning ideologies out of it so that South Sudan can be their own country & not just a satellite of a larger, less scrupulous influence...

[Mayoyo]

08:18 PM on 07/08/2011

Welcome...now comes the hard part.

[rda1911a1]

07:55 PM on 07/08/2011

man I bet the new high rise hotels and tourist meccas are only a couple years down the road.....or not

[jaspdohertylaw]

07:19 PM on 07/08/2011

good luck to your new country- hopefully you will be ruled by honest men and women who will put the interests of the people first- it seems to have enough natural resources that if properly developed could lead to a prosperous country- the biggest obstacles will be themselves- can they overcome the temptations of corruption that so many of these third world countries fall victim to

[Hans Struhar]

06:38 PM on 07/08/2011

yippie, another new nation and that in africa, another country where half their population is starving, and the government spends more then 3 times for weapons and not for food or education, i am curious who is going to foot the bill for that new country, surely not the USA,....

[robinhood1]

09:20 PM on 07/08/2011

We are all but broke.

[UKVisitor]

04:36 AM on 07/09/2011

It's an established fact that rich countries take ,more from poor countries than they give back, but thanks for your compassion.

[Sasa Milosevic]

05:36 PM on 07/08/2011

New one in a series of political deviant creations at troubled African continent. I do not believe that the hungry Sudanese stomachs be fed by independence.