Juba, city, South Sudan

Juba jo͞oˈbə [key], city (1993 pop. 114,980), capital and largest city of South Sudan, a port on the White Nile in the southern part of the country. It is the southern terminus of river traffic in South Sudan and is a highway hub, with roads radiating into Uganda, Kenya, and Congo (Kinshasa). The Univ. of Juba is in the city.

A unification agreement arranged in Juba in 1947 joined the northern and southern parts of Sudan, which dashed Britain's hopes of adding the south to Uganda. Juba became the center of southern resistance to alleged northern dominance of the country. In 1955, a mutiny of southern troops at Juba caused a Sudanese civil war, which was settled in 1969. Civil war broke out again in 1983; a peace settlement was signed in 2005.

Under the settlement, Juba became the capital of autonomous S Sudan, and many former refugees subsequently crowded into the city and the surrounding area. In 2011, following a referendum on independence for the south, Juba became the capital of the Republic of South Sudan, but there are plans to move the capital ultimately to a more central location N of Juba.

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