Equatoria

Equatoria is a region of southern South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile. Originally a province of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert and West Nile. It was an idealistic effort to create a model state in the interior of Africa that never consisted of more than a handful of adventurers and soldiers in isolated outposts. Equatoria was established by Samuel Baker in 1870. Charles George Gordon took over as governor in 1874, followed by Emin Pasha in 1878. The Mahdist Revolt put an end to Equatoria as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Later British Governors included Martin Willoughby Parr. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, and Wadelai. The last two parts of Equatoria, Lake Albert and West Nile are now situated in Uganda. Under Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, most of Equatoria became one of the eight original provinces. The region of Bahr el Ghazal was split from Equatoria in 1948. In 1976, Equatoria was further split into the provinces of East and West Equatoria. The region has been troubled with violence during both the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars, as well as the anti-Ugandan insurgencies based in Sudan such as the Lord's Resistance Army and West Nile Bank Front. Equatoria consists of the following states: Central Equatoria Eastern Equatoria Western Equatoria Between October 2015 and February 2020, Equatoria consisted of the following states: Amadi State Gbudwe State Maridi State Tambura State Imatong State Torit State Kapoeta State Jubek State Terekeka State Yei River State The people of Equatoria are traditionally peasants or nomads belonging to numerous ethnic groups. They live in the counties of Budi, Ezo, Juba, Kajo-keji, Kapoeta, Magwi, Maridi, Lainya, Mundri, Terekeka, Tombura, Torit, Yambio, and Yei. Equatoria is inhabited by the ethnolinguistic groups listed below.