A Country is Born: South Sudan
South Sudan was just born. It is the newest state (country) in the world!
There are about 200 countries in the world today but none are permanent fixtures on the Earth. States may come, they may go (the Soviet Union) and they also, like Lithuania, may come back.
States came about way back in history, when losers of battles had nowhere to go such as when these people may have been kicked out of a territory or area. So, they organized – as did the victors. Battle lines and the map were continually being divided and drawn up on a regular basis.
States became and are the standard form of political organization. It’s how we divide ourselves up.
We can divide ourselves up in a friendly way, such as Canadians making jokes about Americans. Or we can divide ourselves up in a mean way, such as declaring war on another state.
#SouthSudan is NOT the world's newest nation. It is the newest state.—
Jason Morris (@JPols) July 12, 2011
A state is said to have three identifying factors. These are the three conditions that must be present and exist to make what we can call a state:
- Population: The state has got to have people. Moreover, these people have got to have somewhere to rest their heads at night, which brings us to the second element.
- Territory: A state has got to have a defined chunk of land – and water and “airspace”, sometimes, too – that it rightfully claims as its own. States also have to have something to do for the people in this land, which is the next identifying factor.
- Sovereignty: States have sovereignty (ultimate authority) over the population, within the territory.
South Sudan is leaving Sudan, taking with it about a third of the territory.
It will have to start out modestly, and in fact will probably be one of the poorest states in the world. Its leaders will face extreme challenges of holding together many ethnic and military divisions, among its eight million new citizens. Diversification of its oil-based economy should also be on the agenda. The United Nations will have peacekeepers there shortly…
I am sure millions of people wish South Sudanese people all the best wishes!
See also from this blog: South Sudan Not Official Without Google Maps?
In a perfect world, there would be no residual consequences. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. If you consider the massive debt that North Sudan is engaged in and the struggle for Oil between the two sides of the former Sudan, something is bound to happen.
I don’t think there is a potential for another Rwanda but a lot of social unrest is never good between neighboring nations.
WTO take notes and action,
154 UN states now. Right?
Thanks for commenting. Your thoughts are realistic, if depressing. My post was trying to hope for the best, for now, but we shall see!