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South Sudan

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Southern Sudan Oil Concessions

The oilfields in the south have been significant to the economy since the latter part of the 20th century. South Sudan has the third-largest oil reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, after South Sudan became an independent nation in July 2011, southern and northern negotiators were not immediately able to reach an agreement on how to split the revenue from these southern oilfields.

Transportation:

Under Sudanese rule a number of main gravel roads radiating from Juba were improved. These included roads to the towns southwest of Juba and a road to the Ugandan border. In addition, the government built a gravel all-weather road east of Juba that reaches the Kenyan border. There it joined an all-weather Kenyan road to Lodwar connecting it to the Kenyan road system. However, all of these improvements radiating from Juba have been vitiated by the civil war, as the roads have been extensively mined by the SPLA and the bridges destroyed. Because roads have not been maintained, they have seriously deteriorated.

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Road Map of South Sudan

Highways in South Sudan are almost entirely unpaved. Rehabilitation work is underway and the first paved highway between the country’s capital Juba and Nimule in the Uganda border has opened.

South Sudan has 248 km (154 mi) of single-track 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge railway line from the Sudanese border to Wau terminus. There are proposed extensions from Wau to Juba. There are also plans to link Juba with the Kenyan and Ugandan railway networks.

The busiest and most developed airport in South Sudan is Juba Airport, which has regular international connections to Asmara, Entebbe, Nairobi, Cairo, Addis Ababa, and Khartoum.

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Juba Airport

Other international airports include Malakal, with international flights to Addis Ababa and Khartoum; Wau, with weekly service to Khartoum; and Rumbek, also with weekly flights to Khartoum. Southern Sudan Airlines also serves Nimule and Akobo, which have unpaved runways. Several smaller airports exist throughout South Sudan, the majority consisting of little more than dirt runways.

Flag of South Sudan:

The flag of South Sudan was adopted following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. A similar version of the flag was previously used as the flag of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The flag of South Sudan is older than the country itself, as the flag was adopted in 2005, while the country became independent in 2011.

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Flag of South Sudan

The Southern Sudanese government specifies that the colours of the flag are there to represent these descriptions of South Sudan:[2][7]

Black: Represents the people of South Sudan.
Red: Represents blood that was shed for the independence of the country.
Green: Represents the country’s agricultural, natural wealth, land, as well as progress[5]
White: Represents South Sudan’s peace attained after many years of the liberation struggle.
Blue: Represents waters of the Nile River, a source of life for the country.
Yellow: Represents unity (of the states), hope, and determination for all people.[5]

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