Jonglei State

Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor, Akobo, Ayod, Uror, Duk, Nyirol, Pigi, Twic East, and Fangak. Jonglei State is the largest state by area before reorganisation, with an area of approximately 122,581 km², as well as the most populous according to the 2008 census conducted in present-day South Sudan's second period of autonomy. The boundaries of the state were again changed as a result of a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.

In the 21st century, Jonglei State has been marred by ethnic clashes, which the UNMISS estimated in May 2012 had affected the lives of over 140,000 people, and which have been magnified by the broader South Sudanese conflict since December 2013.

Jonglei State is divided into 9 counties as follows:

The capital of the state, Bor, became an administrative centre under the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899 -1956) for the Dinka Bor. It was in Malek, a small settlement, about 19 kilometres (12 mi), south of Bor that the first modern Christian mission in present-day South Sudan was established by Archibald Shaw in December 1905. Bor became the first area to host a Church Missionary Society station in 1905. Shaw opened the first primary school in Malek. This school produced the first indigenous Anglican bishop to be consecrated in Dinka land, Daniel Deng Atong, the first person to be baptized in 1916 in Bor. In 1912, the British established Pibor Post, a colonial era outpost which was originally called Fort Bruce in the eastern part of Jonglei State. From 1919 to 1976, the territory belonged to the state of the Upper Nile region in what was initially Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

The state has a long history of unrest which affected other parts of Sudan. The First Sudanese Civil War which lasted from 1955 until 1972 broke out with a Southern rebellion in Torit in imatong state) against Northern armed officers. In 1983, the Second Sudanese Civil War also broke out in Bor.

In the 1970s, the Investigation Team was established by the Sudanese government to investigate affairs and development potential in the region. In 1976, Jonglei was split off from the Upper Nile as a separate province. Construction of the Jonglei Canal project, a 360 km long canal between Bor and where the Sobat River joins the White Nile began construction in 1978 but was halted in 1983-4 for political, financial and technical reasons. From 1991 to 1994, the territory was again included within the newly defined borders of Upper Nile State. On 14 February 1994, Jonglei state was again split off as a separate state.

Jonglei State has long suffered from tribal infighting. Much of the conflict is over basic resources of food, land, and water, and personal grudges related to the abduction of women and children and theft of cattle. In November and December 2007, clashes between Murle and Dinke tribesmen had worsened to revenge attacks, killing over 34 people and injuring over 100. On one outbreak in late November 2007, eight Dinka tribesmen and 7,000 cattle were stole near the village of Padak, about 20 kilometres north-east of Bor. Many fled to the Kakuma Camp in northwestern Kenya, and they amounted to some 85 percent of the total 3,000 or so refugees reaching the camp.

Violence between Murle and Nuer tribes has been central to the attacks in the state. The Geneva Small Arms Survey concluded that the "Murle–Lou Nuer conflict in Jonglei State is indicative of how tribal and political dynamics are intertwined in the post-CPA period." A civilian disarmament operation targeting primarily the Nuer communities in 2005–06 resulted in a major outbreak of violence against the authorities, who believed that the crackdown was politically motivated. In August 2007, some 80 people were killed in Murle–Lou Nuer clashes. In 2009 alone, some 86,000 people were displaced, and at least 1248 killed as a result of violent clashes. One attack at Lilkwanglei in March 2009 claimed 450 lives, wounding 45 and displacing 5000 people. A month later, 250 were killed, 70 wounded and 15,000 displaced at Akoko. 24,000 were displaced as a result of attack in August 2009 at Panyangor. Between January 2011 and September 2012, some 2600 people died in clashes in Jonglei State. In January 2012 clashes between Murle and Nuer tribes again broke out over cattle. Outbreaks between Nuer and Murle people have been the most severe in Nyirol and Pibor counties but have also affected other counties.