Koch County is an administrative division of
Unity State
Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, 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.
In 2015, a preside ...
in the
Greater Upper Nile
The Greater Upper Nile () is a region of northeastern South Sudan. It is named for the White Nile (it is its lowest portion in South Sudan), a tributary of the Nile River in North Africa, North and East Africa, East Africa.
History
The Greater ...
region of
South Sudan
South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
, covering an area in the centre of the state.
The administrative centre is the town of
Koch
Koch may refer to:
People
* Koch (surname), people with this surname
* Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India
* Koch family
* Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...
.
Large villages include Dhor Wang, Thorial,
Duar, Wath-Thier and Bieh.
According to the Sudan Population and Housing Census, 2008, there were 75,000 persons in Koch County.
The population is extremely poor, with widespread illiteracy.
There are serious security concerns.
Between April and November 2010, over 35 people died in the county, many of them civilians, from insurgent attacks.
There were suspicions that General
Gatluak Gai, who came from Koch County, was the leader of the forces responsible for these attacks.
As of January 2011 talks were in progress with different people who claimed to represent Gatluak Gai, but the situation was extremely obscure.
On 18 July 2011, Gatluak Gai concluded peace talks with the SPLA.
Three days later he was killed.
His second in command in the "South Sudan Liberation Army" rebel group, Marko Chuol Ruei, claimed responsibility for the death, saying Gatluak Gai had told his fighters to ignore the peace agreement.
References
{{reflist
Counties of Unity State