South Sudan’s various ethnic groups have a history of producing various handicrafts. The Zande, for example, were prominent as craftsmen and artists. Their superior material culture, particularly their knives, spears, and shields, was one of the factors by which they dominated their neighbours and brought about the spread of their culture. Basketry, net weaving, pottery, smelting, metalworking, and ivory and wood carving also were undertaken. Contemporary Zande are still noted for their iron, clay, and wood handicrafts. Some modern South Sudanese artists include painters who use acrylic, water, or oil paints.

Music is an integral part of the cultural traditions of South Sudan’s ethnic groups, as many ritual ceremonies are accompanied by singing and the playing of musical instruments. A variety of musical styles are enjoyed as entertainment in South Sudan. There is a traditional style of music, in which singers perform without musical accompaniment or with only a limited drumbeat. Western music styles, such as hip-hop and reggae, are popular. Also popular is a music style known as Sudanese or Sudanic fusion, which is a melding of Arabic and African rhythms. Dance is an integral part of the cultural traditions of South Sudan’s ethnic groups.

Cultural institutions

South Sudan has a rich, long cultural history. However, decades of marginalization by the northern-based government of Sudan, the long-running civil conflict, and the necessary focus on constructing basic infrastructure have meant that historically only limited resources could be devoted to cultural institutions. There is the Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba, which hosts many cultural and social events. The mausoleum of rebel leader John Garang, also in Juba, is a site of importance.

Sports and recreation

Wrestling is a traditional sport in South Sudan. Wrestling matches were often a component of festivities that marked the end of the agricultural season and included spectator involvement in the form of singing and dancing in support of one of the competitors. Basketball is also played, and some internationally known basketball players have come from what is now South Sudan, including Manute Bol and Luol Deng.

Football (soccer) was long popular in Sudan; the country was one of Africa’s first football powers. However, the long-running civil conflict disrupted organized play. Since the end of the conflict, football has gained in popularity in South Sudan, partially because of the efforts of the government and other groups to organize sporting activities for South Sudanese youth.

Although decades of civil conflict severely limited recreational opportunities, South Sudan is home to an abundance of natural features conducive to outdoor activities. There are several national parks and reserves that offer opportunities for such activities as hiking, bird-watching, white-water rafting, and sportfishing.

Media and publishing

Because of the high illiteracy rate in South Sudan, radio is the most popular form of mass communication. There are several government or private radio stations operating throughout parts of the country that provide news, educational instruction, and entertainment in several languages. The government also owns a television broadcasting station in Juba. Newspapers are common in the cities and include local dailies and weeklies in the English language as well as a limited number in the Arabic language.

Colonial administration

In 1899 the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium was declared, providing for the Sudan to be administered jointly by Egypt and Great Britain, with a governor-general appointed by the khedive of Egypt but nominated by the British government. In reality, however, there was no equal partnership between Britain and Egypt in the Sudan, as the British dominated the condominium from the beginning. Their first order of business was to pacify the countryside and suppress local religious uprisings. The north was quickly pacified, and modern improvements were introduced under the aegis of civilian administrators, who began to replace the military as early as 1900. In the south, resistance to British rule was more prolonged; administration there was confined to keeping the peace rather than making any serious attempts at modernization.

Other than a revolt in 1924, led by a new generation of Western-educated Sudanese in the north, British rule in the Sudan remained unchallenged until after World War II. By then the growth of national consciousness among the educated Sudanese elite had led to the creation of the Graduates’ General Congress, which eventually demanded recognition by the British to act as the spokesman for Sudanese nationalism. The request was refused, and the Congress then split into two groups: a moderate majority and a radical minority. By 1943 the minority had won control of the Congress and organized the first genuine political party in the Sudan. The moderates then formed the Ummah (Nation) Party, with the intention of cooperating with the British toward independence.

British officials were well aware of the pervasive power of nationalism among the elite and sought to introduce new institutions to associate the Sudanese more closely with the task of governing. An advisory council was established for the northern Sudan, but Sudanese nationalists soon began to agitate to transform the advisory council into a legislative one that would include the southern Sudan. Previously, the British had facilitated their control of the Sudan by segregating the south’s predominantly animist or Christian Africans from the north’s predominantly Muslim Arabs. A decision to establish a legislative council was seen as a way to force the British to abandon that policy, which they ultimately did, and southern participation in the legislative council was instituted in 1947. Arabic was mandated the official language, however. That action generated much discontent in the southern Sudan, as English was long the primary language of education in the south, and using Arabic as the language of government severely limited the participation of southern Sudanese.

The creation of the legislative council elicited a strong reaction from the Egyptian government, which in October 1951 unilaterally abrogated a previous treaty and proclaimed Egyptian rule over the Sudan. Those hasty and ill-considered actions only served to alienate the Sudanese from Egypt. The situation changed after the 1952 Egyptian revolution. On February 12, 1953, the new Egyptian government signed an agreement with Britain granting self-government for the Sudan and self-determination within three years for the Sudanese. Elections for a representative parliament to rule the Sudan followed in November and December 1953. The Egyptians threw their support behind Ismāʿīl al-Azharī, the leader of the National Unionist Party (NUP), who campaigned to unite the Sudan with Egypt. That position was opposed by the Ummah Party, which had the less-vocal but pervasive support of British officials. To the shock of many British officials and to the chagrin of the Ummah, which had enjoyed power in the legislative council for nearly six years, Azharī’s NUP won an overwhelming victory.

Azharī formed the new government in January 1954, and the southern Sudanese, who had received a scant number of positions in the new administration, felt increasingly marginalized. Fears of northern domination led to widespread discontent in the south. On August 18, 1955, a number of southern army troops stationed in Torit mutinied after they were ordered to relocate to Khartoum in the north. Their rebellion was quickly put down, but the mutinous troops who were able to escape continued to agitate against the north. Their efforts to coordinate an armed resistance grew and became the basis of southern Sudan’s prolonged armed struggle against the north.