South Sudan Joins African Union

Country Name: South Sudan
Official Name: Republic of South Sudan
News Categories: Intergovernmental Organizations
Summary: New U.N. member South Sudan has been admitted into the African Union, the continent's highest level intergovernmental organization. Formal recognition from individual countries is still continuing.

South Sudan (blue) in the A.U. (green). Modified from
this map by Wikimedia user Heraldry (CC BY-SA).

See Also: New Country: South Sudan

Full Story
Less than three weeks after declaring independence, the new Republic of South Sudan has been admitted into the African Union (A.U.). The A.U., which represents all of Africa's countries except for Morocco, voted with a majority in favor of allowing South Sudan's entrance into the organization. Membership will allow the new state to participate fully in the community of African nations, while the A.U. is soon to begin mediating talks over the remaining disputes between South Sudan and Sudan, the country from which it seceded this month. South Sudan is the 54th member of the African Union, and the first new member since Eritrea joined in 1993.

Map of South Sudan from the CIA
World Factbook (public domain).

See Also: South Sudan Joins U.N.

In addition to A.U. and U.N. membership, South Sudan has continued to receive recognition from individual countries. Official statements of recognition for the new country have now been released by 97 U.N. members and six other sovereign states. Ninety-five U.N. member countries have not yet formally recognized South Sudan, but none have opposed it's independence - an indication that they all intend to accept it as the world's newest sovereign state.

Countries which have officially stated their recognition of South Sudan's sovereignty (green). South Sudan in blue. Modified from this Wikimedia map (public domain).

Wikipedia: South Sudan, Foreign Relations of South Sudan, African Union

South Sudan Joins U.N.

Country Name: South Sudan
Official Name: Republic of South Sudan
News Categories: Intergovernmental Organizations, New Countries
Summary: The newly independent Republic of South Sudan was admitted into the United Nations (U.N.) last week, effectively giving it full status as a nation-state in the international community. Diplomatic recognition from individual countries is still continuing, though the process is now little more than a formality.

U.N. headquarters in New York fly South Sudan's flag
after accepting the new state as a member. U.N. photo
used in accordance with official usage policy (source).

See Also: New Country: South Sudan

Full Story
Just five days after officially declaring independence, the new Republic of South Sudan has been welcomed as the 193rd member of the United Nations. The small African country received membership through a unanimous vote of the U.N. General Assembly on July 14th, following a recommendation from the U.N. Security Council the day before, which was also unanimous. Membership will allow the new state to participate fully in the U.N. and all of its associated organizations, and gives it the legitimacy required for a guaranteed place on world maps and lists of the world's countries.

See Also: How many countries are there in the world? (UPDATED)

In addition to U.N. membership, South Sudan has continued to receive recognition from individual countries. Approximately 88 U.N. members and six other sovereign states have now made official statements recognizing the new country. Although that still leaves 104 U.N. member countries which have not yet formally recognized South Sudan, the unanimous vote of the U.N. General Assembly suggests that all members do intend to acknowledge its legitimacy, whether by official decree or not. No state has indicated any intention to oppose the new state's independence.

Countries which have officially stated their recognition of South Sudan's sovereignty (green). South Sudan in blue. Modified from this Wikimedia map (public domain).

Wikipedia: South Sudan, Foreign Relations of South Sudan, United Nations
 

New Country: South Sudan

Country Name: South Sudan
Official Name: Republic of South Sudan
News Category: New Countries
Summary: The Republic of South Sudan has officially declared independence from Sudan. The declaration comes within the legal framework of a 2005 peace agreement between the north and south, and as a result of a 2011 popular vote. South Sudan is expected to be rapidly accepted into the international community as the world's newest country.

History

Flag of South Sudan (source)

Northern and Southern Sudan are historically distinct regions, both culturally and geographically. The arid north has long been dominated by nomadic Arab herders, with Islam as the primary religion. Meanwhile, the wetter south is populated by various agricultural peoples practicing local religions or Christianity. The north and south were ruled as separate colonies by the British during the first half of the 20th Century, but were later unified, with power weighted toward the north. By the time Sudan gained independence in 1956, a civil war was raging over the south's demands for greater representation and autonomy. A peace agreement was finally reached in 1972, granting Southern Sudan many of its demands; but the country descended again into war in 1983, after the central government in Khartoum withdrew the concessions.

Wikipedia: History of South Sudan

Newly independent South Sudan in purple. Sudan in
green. Modified from this map (license: CC BY-SA).

Independence
The devastating second civil war finally came to an end with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed by the Government of Sudan in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south. The agreement specified that the people of Southern Sudan would have the chance to vote on whether to become independent. After six years of uneasy coexistence between the two sides, the referendum was finally held in January 2011. Ninety-nine percent of voters chose independence, and the date for the declaration was set for July 9. Despite diplomatic confrontations and armed clashes, the separation proceeded, with the Government of Sudan in the north becoming the first country to recognize the south's independence. The north retained the name "Sudan".

Former Sudan. South Sudan in blue. Green areas remain
part of Sudan (disputed regions in dark green). Disputed
Abyei (yellow) is under U.N. control. Modified from this
map by Wikimedia user Lokal_Profil (CC BY-SA 2.5).

However, the status of three border regions - the Abyei Area, South Kordofan state, and Blue Nile state - has not yet been decided. Abyei is claimed both by the south and by the north, which is in the process of turning it over to U.N. peacekeeping forces. The 2005 agreement promised Abyei's people the chance to vote on which side to join, but the referendum hasn't come together. South Kordofan and Blue Nile are controlled by the north, but were promised vaguely defined "popular consultations", which also have not come to pass, leading to continued violence in South Kordofan. The region of Darfur in western Sudan was not at issue in the north-south civil war, and remains part of the north.

South Sudan's capital and states. Modified from this map (public domain).

Wikipedia: Southern Sudanese Independence Referendum




Country Profile
South Sudan is a land-locked country in East Africa, bordered by six other countries, and divided into ten states. It is a constitutional republic with its capital in the city of Juba, and is currently led by President Salva Kiir, a former southern rebel leader. Bisected by the White Nile river, the lushly vegetated country is home to some of the largest remaining populations of endangered African wildlife. South Sudan's roughly 8 million people come from a diverse range of cultural groups, the largest of which is the Dinka people. While English is the official language, Dinka and many other languages are spoken locally, and Arabic (the official language of Sudan) is also widely spoken as a second language. Although the country has rich oil resources, its people currently suffer with one of the lowest standards of living in the world.

Wikipedia: Republic of South Sudan

International Relations
Technically, South Sudan is still a "partially recognized" state, as it has not yet been admitted to the United Nations and is still awaiting diplomatic recognition from many countries. However, it is expected to be admitted into the U.N. within days, and its recognition is growing rapidly: it has already been recognized by about 60 U.N. member countries and four other sovereign states. In addition to the U.N., South Sudan has applied for membership to the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the East African Community. It has been invited into the Arab League, but is not likely to join, as most of its people do not identify as Arabs (unlike Sudan in the north). Political Geography Now will continue to publish updates as South Sudan's international status evolves.

Countries which have recognized South Sudan's sovereignty (green). South Sudan in blue. Modified from this Wikimedia map (public domain).

Wikipedia: Foreign Relations of South Sudan
 

Yemen Fragments Under Uprising

Country Name: Yemen (English), Al Yaman (Arabic)
Official Name: Republic of Yemen (English), Al Jumhūriyyah al Yamaniyyah (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: After months of unrest and popular opposition to the government, much of Yemen's territory has fallen out of government control. Several areas are occupied by Islamist militants seeking to implement Sharia Law, while others have fallen under the control of various local groups and military defectors united in their demand for the removal of president and dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Rebel and Islamic extremist control in Yemen, according to news reports. Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are two related Islamic extremist groups. Unarmed protests not shown. Map is my
own work, based on this map by Wikipedia user NordNordWest (license: CC BY-SA). (Corrected: Nov. 20, 2011)

(Note: For updates to this map, follow the Yemen label on Political Geography Now.)

Full Story
When a country faces revolutionary change, the power of the people to oppose their government can result in a loss of control by the state, as opposition groups seize territory bit by bit. Despite the country maintaining international recognition as a single "nation-state", the territory claimed by the state may become divided. While in many cases this means one large rebel group taking control of a large section of the country, in other cases the territory may fragment into various scattered regions under the control of multiple groups. This is the process that has been occurring in Yemen during recent months.

Yemen is located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, south of Saudi Arabia. A republic made up of 20 provinces or "governorates", it is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula with a democratic constitution; yet it also holds the unfortunate distinction of having the lowest standard of living of any country in the Arab world. Like many other allegedly democratic countries, Yemen has remained under the tight control of a single "president", Ali Abdullah Saleh, for more than 30 years. The current unrest began in January of this year, as part of the "Arab Spring" movement that has seen protests across the Arab world and beyond, and which early on resulted in the overthrow of governments in Tunisia and Egypt. After months of protests, crackdowns, and stalled negotiations in Yemen, an armed uprising erupted in late May.

Armed opposition to President Saleh's government has been undertaken by two largely separate groups. The first group is a loose coalition of "tribes" (social groups held together by family relations) and military defectors who support the peaceful protesters' goal of ousting the president. The second group is a coalition of Islamist militants calling themselves Ansar al-Sharia ("Supporters of Islamic Law"), whose objective is to create an Islamic state in Yemen. The secular opposition groups are most active in Yemen's populated western region, while Islamist activity is centered along the southern coast and in the sparsely populated regions of the east.

The series of 2011 protests and revolutions in the Arab world is sometimes called the "Arab Spring". Yemen is
located at the lower right. Map is from this Wikipedia page (public domain; original graphic).

(More Yemen news from Political Geography Now)

News Bits: June 2011

"News Bits" posts cover minor political geography events from the previous month. Although the news may be of great political relevance, these events haven't (yet) affected major changes to the shapes, sovereignty, or international positions of the world's countries.

Abyei's location within Sudan

(yellow). The south (blue) gains
independence this July. Based
on this map (license: CC BY-SA).

Sudan Government Forces Overrun Disputed Abyei
The Abyei Area, subject of a territorial dispute between the central Government of Sudan and the autonomous Southern Sudan region, has been invaded by Sudanese government forces. Southern troops, who had shared joint control of the area with the central government, have been driven out, along with many of the area's inhabitants. Southern Sudan is set to become an independent country this July, based on the 2005 peace agreement that ended Sudan's second civil war. A referendum was planned for Abyei residents to choose whether they would stay in Sudan or join the new Republic of South Sudan, but it was never held due to disagreements about who was eligible to vote. The Sudan government in Khartoum has asserted that it will not give up Abyei, and southern president Salva Kiir has promised not to go to war again over the territory.

Israel with occupied territories (green).
The PLO claims both the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, but they are currently
ruled by rival factions (map source).

West Bank & Gaza Strip to be Reunited
Rival Palestinian political parties Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a new unity government in the coming months, which will effectively reunite their respective territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Both groups claimed control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) government after a brief civil war following the 2006 elections, in which Hamas won a majority of seats in the previously Fatah-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council. The armed clash left Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah retained its authority in the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank. Known to the U.N. as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are claimed as the State of Palestine by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), parent organization of the PA. Over half of the U.N.'s member countries have recognized the state's independence, but the U.N. itself has not. Furthermore, the territories remain under military occupation by Israel, which controls much of the West Bank as well as all air space and territorial waters in the region.

Peruvian and Ecuadorian waters, with the newly agreed
upon boundary marked in yellow. My own work, based
on data sources listed on map (terms of use).

Ecuador & Peru Define Sea Border
The neighboring South American countries of Ecuador and Peru have formally agreed on a boundary between their respective territorial waters in the Pacific Ocean. Although the location of the border was never actively in dispute, its acceptance had been called into question by Peru's ongoing territorial dispute with Chile, in which Peru claims a 1952 agreement between the three countries did not technically establish the location of their maritime borders. The new agreement is widely seen as a move by Peru to gain Ecuador's support as the case of the Peru-Chile conflict heads to the International Court of Justice. The agreed upon boundary is located along the parallel of 3° 23' 33.96" S, originating at the point where the countries' land border reaches the ocean.

Libya as of June 1, 2011. Cities controlled by Gaddafi

government in green, rebel-held cities in black, and
areas of ongoing fighting in blue. Public domain map
from Wikipedia (source).

Libyan Rebels Gain Further Recognition
Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) over the last month gained diplomatic recognition from five more national governments, bringing to 11 the list of countries recognizing its legitimacy. The NTC forms the political leadership of the rebel forces fighting for control of the North African country against dictator Muammar Gaddafi, in a civil war provoked by Gaddafi's violent crackdown on popular protests last February. Although Libya's independence is already recognized by the U.N. and all of it's members, countries have begun to make the special diplomatic gesture of switching their recognition from Gaddafi's government to the NTC. Recent additions to the list are Jordan, Russia, and Malta; two other countries, Senegal and Turkey, have acknowledged the NTC's status as a legitimate opposition group, while still maintaining ties with Gaddafi. Six other countries, starting with France in early March, had all previously recognized the NTC as Libya's sole representative, some of them expelling Gaddafi's diplomats and sending ambassadors to the rebel command center in Benghazi. As Gaddafi's forces continue to face NATO bombing attacks, the war has ground to a near-stalemate, with Gaddafi controlling the capital city of Tripoli and several smaller western cities, while the rebels control the eastern half of the country and some areas of the west.