South Sudan — Country Profile

South Sudan is in East-Central Africa; south of Sudan, north of Uganda and Kenya, west of Ethiopia. It covers 644,329 sq km. Terrain: plains in the north and center rise to southern highlands along the border with Uganda and Kenya; the White Nile, flowing north out of the uplands of Central Africa, is the major geographic feature of the country; The Sudd (a name derived from floating vegetation that hinders navigation) is a large swampy area of more than 100,000 sq km fed by the waters of the White Nile that dominates the center of the country. Climate: hot with seasonal rainfall influenced by the …

South Sudan’s GDP is $6.752 billion (2023 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $4.629 billion (2023 est.). Real GDP grew -5.2% (2017 est.). See where South Sudan ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.

POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.

Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

No single event defined Jul–Sep 2026. The country's position is the product of long-cycle forces — geography, trade, neighbours — all of which held steady.

Momentum at zero is not stagnation; it is the accurate record of a quarter without a catalyst.

• What drags it down: graded on patchy data (89% complete) — read the score as an order of magnitude; inflation running at 91.4% — eating paychecks

Hydropower, Gold, Diamonds, Oil, Iron ore, Copper, Chromium, Zinc, Tungsten, Mica, Silver.

Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.

Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.

Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.

Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.

Salva Kiir — President. President Salva KIIR Mayardit (since 9 July 2011)

South Sudan maintains 28 embassies and 1 consulates abroad, hosts 19 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, AU Addis Ababa. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.

Source: Consular Affairs Center, Diplomatic and Consular Networks Database and Rankings, January 2026 (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0). https://zenodo.org/records/18109976

Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.

Major airports

Juba International Airport (JUB) — Juba; Malakal International Airport (MAK) — Malakal; Wau Airport (WUU) — Wau.

Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02

POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for South Sudan.

Historical timeline of South Sudan

This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of South Sudan — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.