NewsTracker Answers for week of July 11, 2011

Q: South Sudan raised its flag for the first time last week as it became the world's newest nation. It became a separate nation after decades of civil war in Sudan killed some 1.5 million people. Where is South Sudan?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The Republic of Sudan was the first state to officially recognize its new neighbor. Independence is the result of a 2005 peace deal between north and south. What must the two sides still negotiate?

A. Oil revenue

B. Borders

C. Debts

D. All of the above


D. Besides those issues, the new nation faces many other challenges including at least seven active rebel groups. South Sudan is rich in oil, but is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.


Q: The independence ceremony was held in South Sudan's capital, Juba. What is the capital of the Republic of Sudan?

A. Timbuktu

B. Khartoum

C. Madrid

D. Tripoli


B. Khartoum was established near the ancient city of Soba in 1821 by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Egypt's ruler, Muhammad Ali Pasha, who had just incorporated Sudan into his realm. It now has an estimated population of more than 5 million people.


Q: Which river connects Juba and Khartoum?

A. Amazon

B. Zambezi

C. Congo

D. White Nile


D. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile, which flows north through Juba from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, which flows west from Ethiopia. The main Nile continues to flow north through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.


Q: South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest. The Republic of Sudan is mostly covered by the . . .

A. Andean Plateau

B. Himalaya Mountains

C. Sahara Desert

D. Nile Delta


C. The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. It covers most of Northern Africa, and it is almost as large as Europe or the United States.