Christians, primarily Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian, account for about three-fifths of South Sudan’s population. Christianity is a result of European missionary efforts that began in the second half of the 19th century. The remainder of the population is a mix of Muslims and those who follow traditional animist religions, the latter outnumbering the former. Although the animists share some common elements of religious belief, each ethnic group has its own indigenous religion. Virtually all of South Sudan’s traditional African religions share the conception of a high spirit or divinity, usually a creator god. There exist two conceptions of the universe: the earthly and the heavenly, or the visible and the invisible. The heavenly world is seen as being populated by spiritual beings whose function is to serve as intermediaries or messengers of God; in the case of the Nilotic peoples, these spirits are identified with their ancestors. The supreme deity is the object of rituals using music and dance.

Settlement patterns

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South Sudan as a whole has a rather low population density, although distribution throughout the country is uneven. The greatest population densities are found along the Nile rivers and their tributaries. About four-fifths of South Sudan’s population is rural. Rural settlements are usually clustered along watercourses because of water supply problems, especially during the dry months. The most common type of housing in rural areas is a round hut known as a tukul. It has a thatched conical roof and is made of mud, grass, millet stalks, and wooden poles.

South Sudan was the least-urbanized area when Sudan became independent in 1956 but has since experienced a high rate of urban growth. Still, only about one-fifth of the population is urban. Major towns include Wau, Malakal, Yei, Yambio, and Juba, the capital.

Demographic trends

The population of South Sudan is overwhelmingly young, with more than two-fifths of the population under the age of 15 and more than one-fourth between the ages of 15 and 29. Life expectancy is much lower than the world average and is lower than that of neighbouring countries.

Decades of civil war in Sudan, fought largely in what is now South Sudan, took a toll on the population. It was estimated that between 1983, when a census was taken, and 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, more than two million people died and some 4–5.5 million were displaced, many of whom were southern Sudanese. After the signing of the CPA, many southern Sudanese returned to the region, especially during the run-up to the 2011 referendum on southern independence, when more than 120,000 made their way back to the south. South Sudan hosts refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region as well as from other countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Ethiopia.

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Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Traditional rain-fed farming of small plots predominates in South Sudan, although mechanized farming techniques are increasingly utilized in some areas, such as in the northern part of the country. South Sudan’s main crop is sorghum. Other crops include corn (maize), millet, rice, cassava (manioc), peanuts (groundnuts), sweet potatoes, okra, and coffee. The main subsistence crops are sorghum, corn, and cassava, with smaller amounts of millet and rice being in grown in some areas. Peanuts are the primary cash crop. There is a considerable amount of livestock raised in the country, including goats, sheep, and cattle. Some livestock are raised for export, but this sector of the country’s economy is underdeveloped.

The forests of South Sudan yield hardwood timber, such as mahogany and sant (a type of acacia), and softwoods. Gum arabic (in South Sudan it is called gum africa), a water-soluble gum obtained from acacia trees and used in the production of adhesives, candy, and pharmaceuticals, is an important agricultural export.

The Nile rivers are the main source of fish, especially Nile perch. Most of the catch is consumed locally. There is the potential to increase the amount of fish that is sold at market and the possibility of having enough fish available to export, given proper support and development of the fishing industry. Transportation and storage limitations, however, have hindered such efforts in the past.

Resources and power

Petroleum is by far South Sudan’s most important natural resource. Oil was first discovered in the southwestern Sudan (now part of South Sudan) in 1977, and a commercially viable find was made in 1980. The long-running civil war prevented any exploitation of the oil deposits, however, until the end of the 20th century. Although the vast majority of these oil reserves are now in South Sudan, the necessary infrastructure for transporting the oil goes through Sudan, its neighbour to the north. Other known resources include marble, mica, and uranium.

Power sources used in South Sudan vary across urban and rural areas. Only a small portion of the population has access to electricity via public sources or private generators: in urban areas about one-sixth of the population has access to electricity as a source of lighting, while in rural areas access is available to less than 1 percent of the population. At the time of independence, several new power stations were under construction or recently completed, promising to increase the amount of power available in the country. Firewood is an important fuel for cooking, used by almost all of the rural population and about two-fifths of the urban population. In urban areas charcoal is used by about half of the population for cooking. The country has considerable hydroelectric potential, but it was not fully developed at the time of independence.