1、 www.crs.gov | 7-5700 October 1, 2014 South Sudan: Current IssuesSouth Sudan emerged in 2011 as the worlds newest country, and as one of its least developed. After almost 40 years of war between the Sudan government and southern insurgents, an overwhelming majority of southern Sudanese voted in Janu
2、ary 2011 to secede from Sudan. More than 2.5 million people were killed in the civil war and more than 4 million were displaced. Many fled as refugees, including to the United States. South Sudan was devastated by the conflict, which hindered the development of basic infrastructure and formal civili
3、an institutions. The war created massive, chronic humanitarian needs that have persisted, despite a bounty of natural resources, including 75% of Sudans former oil reserves. Corruption also slowed post-war recovery and development. South Sudan was the worlds largest recipient of humanitarian aid in
4、2013. In December 2013, less than three years after independence, growing political tensions among key leaders in South Sudan erupted in violence. The political dispute that triggered the crisis was not based on ethnic identity, but it overlapped with preexisting ethnic and political grievances, spa