South Sudan became the world’s newest internationally recognized country when it gained independence in 2011.
It declared independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, following a referendum in which an overwhelming majority of voters supported separation. The referendum was part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the Second Sudanese Civil War between Sudan’s government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
South Sudan is landlocked in northeastern Africa and borders Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic. Its capital is Juba. The White Nile passes through the country, including the vast Sudd wetland.
Eritrea, Namibia, and Timor-Leste are sometimes mentioned in comparisons about newer states, but all became independent earlier. South Sudan remains the most recently established UN member state, although its independence was followed by serious internal conflict.