Unity (state)

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Unity State
Western Upper Nile
State
Flag of Unity State.png
Flag
Emblem of Unity State.png
Seal
Al-Wahda Map.svg
Location in South Sudan (2011-2015 boundaries)
Coordinates: 09°00′N29°42′E / 9.000°N 29.700°E / 9.000; 29.700
CountryFlag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan
Region Greater Upper Nile
No. of counties:9
Capital Bentiu
Government
 • TypeState
 • GovernorRiek Tap Long [1]
Area
 • Total37,836.39 km2 (14,608.71 sq mi)
Population
 (2014 estimate)
 • Total824,700
 • Density22/km2 (56/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+2 (CAT)
HDI (2021)0.344 [2]
low · 7th of 10

Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, [3] is a state in South Sudan. Unity State is in the Greater Upper Nile region. Unity is inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the Nuer majority, and the Dinka minority.

Contents

In 2015, a presidential decree established a new system of 28 states, replacing the previously established 10. Unity State was replaced by the states of Ruweng, Northern Liech and Southern Liech. [4] Unity State was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020 with smaller boundaries as the northern part of the former state became the Ruweng Administrative Area. [5]

Administrative divisions

The capital of Unity state is Bentiu. Before an administrative reorganization in 1994, Unity was part of a much larger province of Upper Nile, and the state was sometimes called Western Upper Nile.

The counties of Unity were:

The larger towns were Bentiu, Mayom, Rubkona and Leer.

Other towns were Riangnom, Rub-Koni, Yoahnyang, Tam, Mankien, Wang-Kay, Koch, Nyal and Ganyliel. [6]

Economy

Agriculture was the state's primary economic activity. The people of the state were nomadic agro-pastoralists who engaged in both agriculture and rearing of livestock, especially cattle. Farming was conducted during the rainy season although some cultivation also occurs during summer. Vegetables were not widely cultivated as most farmers were rural rather than urban and therefore lacked access to markets for their produce. Some NGOs introduced farmers to the practice of cultivation for market.

Oil fields

Southern Sudan's first oil reserves were discovered here during the 1970s. The international oil companies which engaged in oil exploration contributed to massive displacement of the indigenous population. [7]

In the state were some rich oilfields, including the Unity oilfield and most of Block 5A. The Unity oilfield is within the largest hydrocarbon accumulation in the Muglad rift basin and contains an estimated 150,000,000 barrels (24,000,000 m3) of oil. [8]

The Greater Nile Oil Pipeline begins in the Unity oilfield.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Nuer language (Thok Naath) ("people's language") is a Nilotic language of the Western Nilotic group. It is spoken by the Nuer people of South Sudan and in western Ethiopia (region of Gambela). The language is very similar to Dinka and Atuot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Sudan Liberation Movement</span> South Sudanese guerrilla organisation (1999-present)

The South Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) is an armed group that operates in the Upper Nile Region of South Sudan. The group's creation was announced in November 1999 by people of the Nuer ethnicity who were in both the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the government-allied South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) gathered in Waat. The SSLM was declared to be unaligned in the Second Sudanese Civil War, then entering its sixteenth year. The name "South Sudan Liberation Movement" was decided upon the next year, borrowing from the earlier Southern Sudan Liberation Movement, which existed in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riek Machar</span> South Sudanese politician (born 1952)

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon is a South Sudanese politician who served as the First Vice President of South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentiu</span> City in Greater Upper Nile, South Sudan

Bentiu, also spelled Bantiu, is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Unity State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muglad Basin</span> Large rift basin in southern Sudan and South Sudan

The Muglad Basin is a large rift basin in Northern Africa. The basin is situated within southern Sudan and South Sudan, and it covers an area of approximately 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 sq mi) across the two nations. It contains a number of hydrocarbon accumulations of various sizes, the largest of which are the Heglig and Unity oil fields. During the 1960s and 1970s, Chevron made the first oil discoveries in the basin near the towns of Bentiu, Malakal, and Muglad. Taken together, the Muglad and Melut rift basins account for the majority of Sudan's known oil reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Gadet</span> Sudanese general (c.1958–2019)

Peter Gatdet Yak or Peter Gadet was a Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) general who became the leader of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), a rebel movement in South Sudan.

Leer County is an administrative division of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. The headquarters is in the town of Leer.

Leer is a town in the Leer County of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is the capital of Leer County and was the capital of the former Southern Liech State. It is the most densely populated county in South Sudan.

Paulino Matip Nhial, or Matiep Nhial, was a military leader and politician in South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fangak County</span> County in Greater Upper Nile, South Sudan

Fangak County is an administrative area of Jonglei State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, with headquarters in the town of Phom el Zaraf.

Mayom is a community in the Mayom County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located west of Bentiu. It is the headquarters of Mayom County.

Mayom County is an administrative division of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located to the west of Bentiu. The county headquarters is Mayom town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Block 5A, South Sudan</span> Petroleum concession of South Sudan

Block 5A is an oil concession in South Sudan. After oil field development began during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Block 5A was the scene of extensive fighting as rival militias struggled for control. Out of an original population of 240,000, an estimated 12,000 were killed or died of starvation and 160,000 were displaced by force. Production started in 2006. There is evidence that the environmentally sensitive marshlands beside the Nile are becoming polluted.

Adok is a port on the White Nile in the Leer County of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. In the early 1980s Chevron Corporation found oil in Adok.

Nhialdiu is a large village in the Rubkona County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Bentiu.

Rubkona is a town in the Rubkona County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It lies on the northern bank of the Bahr el Ghazal River, connected via the El Salaam Bridge to the state capital, Bentiu. This bridge was bombed by North Sudanese MiG-29 bomber airplanes on April 23, 2012, during the Heglig Crisis. Rubkona is the administrative center of Rubkona County.

Rubkona County is an administrative division of Unity State, South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Liech State</span> State of South Sudan from 2015 to 2020

Northern Liech was a state in South Sudan that existed between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020. It was located in the Greater Upper Nile region and it bordered Ruweng to the north, Western Bieh to the east, Southern Liech to the south, Tonj to the south, and Gogrial and Twic to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruweng Administrative Area</span> Administrative area in South Sudan

The Ruweng Administrative Area is an administrative area in South Sudan. The area was known as Ruweng State between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020 when it was a state of South Sudan.

The War of the Peters was a conflict primarily fought between the forces of Peter Par Jiek and Peter Gadet from June 2000 to August 2001 in Unity State, Sudan. Though both were leaders of local branches of larger rebel groups that were involved in the Second Sudanese Civil War, the confrontation between the two commanders was essentially a private war. As Par and Gadet battled each other, the Sudanese government exploited the inter-rebel conflict as part of a divide and rule strategy, aimed at weakening the rebellion at large and allowing for the extraction of valuable oil in Unity State. In the end, Gadet and Par reconciled when their respective superiors agreed to merge the SPDF and SPLA.

References

  1. ↑ "Kiir sacks Unity State governor over human rights violations". Sudan Tribune. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Rone, Jemera; (Organization), Human Rights Watch (2003). Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights. p. 102. ISBN   9781564322913.
  4. ↑ "New decree creates ethnic enclaves for Nuer". Radio Tamazuj. 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "After 6 years of war, will peace finally come to South Sudan?".
  6. ↑ "Unity State Map" (PDF). UN OCHA. 3 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Human Rights Watch , 'Sudan, oil, and human rights', www.hrw.org, November.
  8. ↑ NPA Group 2008, 'Sudan - Muglad Basin' Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine , www.npagroup.co.uk, 27 February. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
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