Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, is a
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
in
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 ...
. Unity State is 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. Unity is inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the
Nuer majority, and the
Dinka
The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...
minority.
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
The Ruweng are part of South Sudan's larger Padang fraternity found in both South Sudan and northern Sudan. Many have mistakenly claimed that the Ruweng Dinka is part of Padang. Padang consists of Dongjol, Ageer, Nyiel, Abeliang, Jok, Ruweng, Lual ...
,
Northern Liech and
Southern Liech. 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.
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 are:
*
Guit County
*
Koch County
*
Leer County
*
Mayiandit County
*
Mayom County
*
Panyijar County
*
Rubkona County
Large towns in Unity include
Bentiu,
Mayom,
Rubkona and
Leer.
Other towns include
Riangnom,
Rub-Koni,
Yoahnyang,
Tam,
Mankien,
Wang-Kay,
Koch,
Nyal and
Ganyliel.
Economy
Agriculture is the state's primary economic activity. Many people of the state are
nomadic agro-pastoralists who engage in both agriculture and rearing of livestock, especially cattle. Farming is primarily conducted during the rainy season, although some cultivation also occurs during summer. Vegetables are not widely cultivated, as most farmers are rural rather than urban, and therefore lack access to markets for their produce. Some NGOs have introduced farmers to the practice of cultivation for market.
Oil fields
Southern Sudan's first
oil reserves
An oil is any chemical polarity, nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable ...
were discovered in the area during the 1970s. The international oil companies which engaged in oil exploration contributed to massive displacement of the indigenous population.
Oilfields in the state include 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 of oil.
[NPA Group 2008]
'Sudan - Muglad Basin'
, ''www.npagroup.co.uk'', 27 February. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
The
Greater Nile Oil Pipeline begins in the Unity oilfield.
See also
*
2007 Sudan floods
*
Greater Nile Oil Pipeline
References
External links
* USAID 2001
'Sudan: Oil and gas concession holders' (map) University of Texas Library. (Map shows location of oil field. Note that state borders are out of date.)
{{South Sudan political divisions
States of South Sudan
Greater Upper Nile