South Sudan is declared an independent state

After five decades of unrest and civil war, South Sudan was granted independence on 9 July 2011 with the town of Juba as a capital. The declaration of independence marked “the end” of intermittent clashes with the north. Salva Kiir became the first President of the newly born African state. The emotional Kiir said after he was inaugurated; “We were bombed, maimed, enslaved, treated worse than a refugee in our own country, but we have to forgive, although we will not forget. Some of our suffering has been self-inflicted. We have squabbled over issues that could be solved peacefully.”