Southern Sudan is a region of Sudan, comprising ten of that country's states. The Sudanese government agreed to give autonomy to the region in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on January 9, 2005 in Naivasha, Kenya, with the SPLA/M, tentatively bringing an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War 1983-2005. A referendum is scheduled for 2011 on whether to remain in the greater Sudan or to become an independent nation. Southern Sudan borders Ethiopia to the east, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, and the Central African Republic to the west. To the north lies the predominantly Arab and Muslim region directly under the control of the central government, with its capital at Khartoum. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, here called the Bahr el Jebel.
Southern Sudan, also known as New Sudan, has nearly all of its administrative offices in Juba, the capital, and the city with the largest population.
