A landlocked country in north-eastern Africa, independent since 2011; population 12,300,000 (estimated 2015); capital, Juba; languages, Arabic, English, and others.
Since Sudan's independence in 1956 there had been conflict between the Islamic government in the north and separatist forces in the south. A peace agreement in 2005 provided for a referendum on secession, which was held in 2011 and resulted in South Sudan declaring itself independent. The country was admitted to the United Nations later that year