Located on the White Nile, Juba became the world’s newest national capital city on July 9, 2011 following South Sudan’s break from the Republic of the Sudan. Plans have been made to move the capital to Ramciel, 155.3 miles (250 kilometers) north of Juba.
Juba is one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities. One growth driver is Juba International Airport’s continued development.
Research website numbeo lacks sufficient data to rank Juba on its comprehensive global quality of life rating which benchmarks 250 cities worldwide. Numbeo does evaluate its country South Sudan on several individual factors. For instance, South Sudan rates as the off-the-charts laggard for health care, the 4th-worst for safety and in the poorest 37% for pollution.
South Sudan suffers from one of the world’s lowest literacy rates with just 27% of the total population age 15 or over able to read and write. At 19.1%, only Niger has worse literacy scores as reported by the Central Intelligence Agency.
From an international trade perspective, South Sudan exported an estimated US$1.6 billion worth of products around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include crude oil (99.2% of South Sudan’s global total), sawn or chipped wood (0.4%), rough wood (0.2%), and groundnuts (0.02%) according to the International Trade Centre.
Capital Facts for Juba, South Sudan: Quick Reference
Geography
Capital landmarks: Main Mosque, St. Theresa Cathedral, All Saints Cathedral and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church
Famous People
Below, you will find 6 of the most famous people born in Juba, South Sudan.
- Mangok Mathiang, professonal basketball player (born Oct. 8, 1992)
- Bangs (Ajak Chol), hip hop artist (born Sep. 28, 1990)
- Sebit Bruno, soccer/football player (born Mar. 16, 1994)
- Deng Adel, college basketball player (born Feb. 1, 1996)
- Athir Thomas, soccer/football player (born Feb. 14, 1987)
- Roy Gulwak, soccer/football player (born Jul. 5, 1985)
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches mostly targeting published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Population
Demonym for a resident South Sudan: South Sudanese
Population: 403,215 (Juba) at August 10, 2020
Density: 20,161 people per square mile (7,754 per square kilometer)
Population: 11,208,809 (South Sudan) at August 10, 2020
Density: 47 people per square mile (18 per square kilometer)
Median age for all South Sudan: 19 years old
Financial
GDP: US$21.435 billion in 2019 (South Sudan)
GDP per person: $1,602
Note: The above country-level GDP metrics are on a Purchasing Power Parity basis and are in U.S. dollars. Credible city GDP statistics for Juba were unavailable.
Official currency used in Juba: South Sudanese pound
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Africa: South Sudan.
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Field Listing: Literacy.
Demographia, World Urban Area, 12th Annual Edition.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.
International Trade Centre, Trade Map.
Numbeo, Quality of Life Index by City.
Official Government Website, Government of the Republic of South Sudan.
Wikimedia Commons, City Flags.
Note: Some city flags were unavailable. If so, attribution belongs to Wikimedia Commons for pertinent country flags.
Wikipedia, Juba.
Wikipedia, List of companies of South Sudan.
Wikipedia, South Sudan.
WorldOMeter, South Sudan Population.
World Population Review, Juba Population.
South Sudan won its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. South Sudanese now celebrate Independence Day each July 9.
Juba’s land area measures 52 square miles (20 square kilometers), home to an estimated population of 403,215 at August 10, 2020.
At the country level, South Sudan’s land area covers 235,890 square miles (610,952 square kilometers). The nation’s population count was 11.2 million inhabitants as of August 2020.
Population density is more concentrated within Juba averaging 20,161 residents per square mile (7,754 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to South Sudan’s overall land boundaries, population density drops to an average 47 people per square mile (18 per square kilometer).
