The interim constitution of 2005 declared in Part 1, Chapter 1, No. 6 that “ll indigenous languages of Southern Sudan are national languages and shall be respected, developed and promoted”. In Part 1, Chapter 1, No. 6 (2), it was stated: “English and Arabic shall be the official working languages at the level of the governments of Southern Sudan and the States as well as languages of instruction for higher education.”
The government of the new independent state later deleted Arabic as an official language and chose English as the sole official language.
The new transitional constitution of the Republic of South Sudan of 2011 declares in Part 1, Chapter 1, No. 6 (1) that “ll indigenous languages of South Sudan are national languages and shall be respected, developed and promoted”. In Part 1, Chapter 1, No. 6 (2), it is defined that: “English shall be the official working language in the Republic of South Sudan, as well as the language of instruction at all levels of education.”
On July 6, 2017; South Sudan choose to adopt Swahili as the new official language, was seeking Tanzania’s help to send Swahili teachers to the country as it introduces the language in school curriculum ahead of its adoption as an official language.
In the border region between Western Bahr el Ghazal state and Sudan are an indeterminate number of people from West African countries who settled here on their way back from Mecca – who have assumed a traditionally nomadic life – that resides either seasonally or permanently. They primarily speak Chadian languages and their traditional territories are in the southern portions of the Sudanese regions of Northern Kurdufan and Darfur.
In the capital, Juba, there are several thousand people who use non-classical Arabic, usually a pidgin called Juba Arabic, but South Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya said on 2 August 2011 that Swahili will be introduced in South Sudan with the goal of supplanting Arabic as a lingua franca, in keeping with the country’s intention of orientation toward the East African Community rather than Sudan and the Arab League. Nevertheless, South Sudan submitted an application to join the Arab League as a member state on 25 March 2014, which is still pending. In an interview with the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the Foreign Minister of South Sudan Deng Alor Kuol said: South Sudan is the closest African country to the Arab world, and we speak a special kind of Arabic known as Juba Arabic. Sudan supports South Sudan’s request to join the Arab League. Juba Arabic is a lingua franca in South Sudan.
