Juba
South Sudan · 4 sights · guided virtual tour, about 3 min
Welcome to Juba, the capital and largest city of South Sudan, on the banks of the White Nile. It is the most recently declared national capital in the world, and also the capital of Central Equatoria State. Juba began in 1920 and 1921, when the Church Missionary Society settled in a small Bari village of the same name. Its growth gathered pace after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, and in 2011, with independence, it became the capital of the new nation. Let's explore the city, from its cathedral to the bridges over the Nile.
Sights
St. Theresa Cathedral
Photo: Lomoraronald · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn the district of Kator, on Unity Avenue, stands St Theresa's Cathedral, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Juba. Building began in 1952, and it became a cathedral in 1974, when Pope Paul the Sixth created the archdiocese. In difficult times it has also been a place of shelter. During the civil war, about 5,000 people took refuge inside while violent clashes between rival factions of the army kept it shut for days.
Juba Game Reserve
Named after the capital, the Juba Game Reserve protects 200 square kilometres of savannah grassland and woodland. It is also an Important Bird Area, where birdwatchers look for two key species, Heuglin's spurfowl and the Arabian bustard.
Freedom Bridge
Before you spans the Freedom Bridge, the second permanent bridge over the Nile in South Sudan, opened on 19 May 2022. It was funded by Japan to ease traffic in Juba and better connect the country. Work was halted at the end of 2013 when civil war broke out, and only resumed later. The Japanese ambassador expressed the hope that the bridge would remind the people of South Sudan to keep the peace and be free from violence.
Juba Nile Bridge
Photo: User DEMOSH on flickr.com · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOur final stop is the Juba Nile Bridge, two spans of 252 metres each across the White Nile. Remarkably, it was built from two Second World War era bridges, and until 2022 it was the only crossing over the Nile in South Sudan. Before it existed, an irregular ferry was the only way across the river for hundreds of miles. Today the newer Freedom Bridge stands a little way upstream, and the two together carry Juba across its great river.
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