[1][2] Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, first attempted to colonise the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion.

On 9 January 2005, a peace treaty was signed in Nairobi, Kenya, ending the Second Sudanese Civil War and reestablishing Southern autonomy.

"[4] The treaty provided for a referendum on South Sudanese independence to be held on 9 January 2011, six years after the original signing.

Use of sharia law continued in the Muslim-majority North, while in Southern Sudan, its authority was devolved to the elected assembly.

[6] President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the SPLA disputed the results of the 2008 Sudanese census, which claimed Southern Sudan accounted for 21 percent of the population.

[8] Southern Sudan became an independent country on 9 July 2011, a date set by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

[10] On 23 January 2011, members of a steering committee on post-independence governing told reporters that upon independence the land would be named the Republic of South Sudan "out of familiarity and convenience."

Abyei held a referendum on joining Southern Sudan or staying under Sudanese control, while Nuba Mountains (South Kurdufan as a whole) and Blue Nile were required to hold "popular consultations".