Sudan is Africa's largest country
The core idea stands, but key numbers or details have changed.
TaughtSudan is the largest country in Africa by land area.
NowSouth Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011, taking about a quarter of Sudan's territory. Algeria is now Africa's largest country, and South Sudan is the world's newest widely recognized state.
What actually happened
The split followed Africa's longest-running civil war and a 2005 peace agreement that promised a referendum. When it was held in January 2011, roughly 99% voted for independence, and South Sudan joined the UN as its 193rd member state.
The country's founding did not resolve its problems: civil war broke out within two years, and the border region of Abyei remains disputed, which is why some maps hatch it rather than assigning it. For the purposes of this site the geography lesson is simple. Every atlas printed before mid-2011 has the wrong answer to a standard exam question, and the map of Africa gained a border that had not existed since colonial rule. It is also the most recent addition to the UN's membership list; no widely recognized country has been created since.
Newsletter
Get new weekly revisions
Sources
- United Nations: South Sudan admitted as 193rd member statepress.un.org
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: South Sudanbritannica.com
Who was taught this
Still standard through 2011, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 2011 learned the earlier version.