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More information about South Sudan is available on the South Sudan Page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet.
U.S.-SOUTH SUDAN RELATIONS
The United States recognized South Sudan as a sovereign, independent state on July 9, 2011, following its secession from Sudan. The United States played a key role in helping create the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that laid the groundwork for the 2011 referendum on self-determination, through which the people of South Sudan overwhelmingly voted for independence. Several disputes between Sudan and South Sudan remain unresolved postindependence, including demarcation ofthe border, status and rights of the citizens of each country in the other, and the status ofthe Abyei region. The United States supports the efforts ofthe African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to help the parties work through these issues.
On December 15, 2013, longstanding political tensions between President Salva Kür Mayardit and First Vice President Riek Machar erupted into widespread violence, which led to Machar's fleeing the country. The United States supported the Intergovernmental Authority on Develooment ÍIGAD) in its mediation efforts between the oarties. which resulted in the signing of the Agreement to Resolve the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) in August 2015. In April 2016,...