Tomorrow, the Republic of South Sudan will become a fully independent country following two generations of on again, off again civil war against the northern Sudanese government. The new country faces a host of problems: they are dirt poor, much of their infrastructure is in shambles from the wars, and their border with Sudan has yet to be fully defined. On the other hand, they have oil, though it will take some time to get the revenues flowing into their coffers--the pipelines run through Sudan and many of the oilfields straddle the new border. The news media of the world have had no trouble settling on the appropriate cliche for the story.
The Washington Post: The map of Africa will be redrawn Saturday, as southern Sudan becomes an independent nation...
The National Post (Canada): Redrawing the map of Africa
Voice of America: Google Leads Effort to Get South Sudan on Map
News in a Box: The world’s map is improving by letting a new country to shape its borders.
Besides the cliche, what do all these stories have in common? You guessed it it, no map. Fortunately, we can always turn to the
BBC to provide such things.
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