City Info Spotlight: Juba, Sudan

The location of Juba in Sudan, Africa.

QUICK FACTS

- Juba is a city in Sudan, the regional capital of Southern Sudan and the capital of the Sudanese state of Central Equatoria.

- In 2005 its population was 163,442. Based on analysis of aerial photos, the best estimate of several donors working in Juba estimate the 2006 population at approximately 250,000.

- Juba's elevation is 550 m (1,804 ft).

- Juba is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and is developing very rapidly due to oil money and the Chinese coming for work and development.

HISTORY

In the 19th century, a trading post and a mission named Gondokoro was located in the vicinity of Juba. It was the southernmost outpost of the Turkish garrison, supported by a handful of soldiers, mostly ill due to the malaria and blackwater fever that was dominant in the region. Gondokoro was also the base of the explorer and anti-slavery campaigner Samuel Baker during his expeditions to what is now Southern Sudan and northern Uganda from 1863 to 1865, and from 1871 to 1873.

In 1922, a small number of Greek traders arrived in the area and established Juba on the opposite bank of the White Nile. The Greeks who had excellent relations with the indegenous tribe of Juba (the Bari), built what is known today the Business District. The buildings where today is the Buffalo Commercial Bank, Nile Commercial Bank, Paradise Hotel, the Norwegian Consul's House and so many other, were originally built by the Greeks and were the only permanent structures someone could find until the early '40s.

A cattle traffic jam in the city of Juba, Sudan.

From 1899 to 1956, the Juba was in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan jointly administered by the United Kingdom and Egypt. British hopes to join the southern part of Sudan with Uganda were dashed in 1947 by an agreement in Juba, also known as the Juba Conference, to unify northern and southern Sudan. In 1955, a mutiny of southern soldiers in the city sparked the First Sudanese Civil War, which did not end until 1972. During the Second Sudanese Civil War, Juba was a strategic location that was the focus of much fighting.

In 2005, Juba was handed over to the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. The city serves as the permanent regional capital of Southern Sudan, although the interim capital was Rumbek.

With the advent of peace, the United Nations increased its presence in Juba, whereas many Southern Sudan operations had until that time been managed from Kenya. Under the leadership of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations established a camp known as "OCHA Camp", which served as a base for many United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations.

[View the full Wikipedia entry on Juba by clicking here.]