New Contries

BLURRING BOUNDARIES Since 1990, 33 new countries have been created; South Sudan will be Africa’s 54th nation
1991 | 15 new countries after dissolution of USSR: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Early 1990s | Yugoslavia dissolves into 5 independent nations: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro and Slovenia
Mar 21, 1990 | Namibia freed by South Africa
May 22, 1990 | North and South Yemen merge to form unified Yemen
Oct 3, 1990 | East and West Germany create unified Germany
Sept 17, 1991 | Marshall Islands and Micronesia freed by US
Jan 1, 1993 | Czech Republic and Slovakia become independent as Czechoslovakia is dissolved May 25, 1993 | Eritrea gains freedom from Ethiopia Oct 1, 1994 | Palau freed by United States May 20, 2002 | East Timor gets independence from Indonesia
June 2006 | Montenegro, Serbia go separate ways
Feb 17, 2008 | Kosovo declares independence from Serbia

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Sudanese Civil War

The First Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and a south that demanded more regional autonomy. Half a million people died over the 17 years of war.

However, the agreement that ended the fighting in 1972 failed to completely dispel the tensions that had originally caused the civil war, leading to a reigniting of the north-south conflict during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005).

The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. It took place, for the most part, in southern Sudan and was one of the longest lasting and deadliest wars of the later 20th century.

Roughly 1.9 million civilians were killed in southern Sudan, and more than 4 million southerners have been forced to flee their homes at one time or another since the war began. The civilian death toll is one of the highest of any war since World War II. The conflict officially ended with the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005.

Origins of the conflict

Until 1946, the British government, in collaboration with the Egyptian government administered south Sudan and north Sudan as separate regions. At this time, the two areas were merged into a single administrative region as part of British strategy in the Middle East.

This act was taken without consultation with southerners, who feared being subsumed by the political power of the larger north. Southern Sudan is inhabited primarily by Christians and animists and considers itself culturally sub-Saharan, while most of the north is inhabited by Muslims who were culturally Arabic.

After the February 1953 agreement by the United Kingdom and Egypt to grant independence to Sudan, the internal tensions over the nature of the relationship of north to south were heightened. Matters reached a head as the 1 January 1956 independence day approached, as it appeared that northern leaders were backing away from commitments to create a federal government that would give the south substantial autonomy.