The Hill News

South Sudan is a sparsely populated and largely undeveloped land full of lush savanna, jungle and the famous Sud â€" a vast collection of swamps that form the source of the Nile River in Sudan.

Until now, South Sudan's largely dispersed and independent tribal groups have been joined together in hopes of defeating a common enemy. But it remains to be seen whether they can actually form a strong enough national identity to garner the political and economic capacity they will need to survive as an independent nation. Especially now, any decline in national unity or collective purpose will weaken the new South Sudan considerably. The disparate groups will especially need such unity if they are to effectively negotiate the oil pipeline stranglehold currently enjoyed by the North.

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