Nasir, South Sudan Explained

Official Name:Nasir
Pushpin Map:South Sudan
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in South Sudan
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:South Sudan
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Greater Upper Nile
Subdivision Type2:State
Subdivision Name2:Upper Nile State
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:Nasir County
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Population Blank2 Title:Religions
Timezone:Central Africa Time
Utc Offset:+2
Coordinates:8.6°N 37°W
Image Alt:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Nasir.jpg/275px-Nasir.jpg

Nasir is a city in the Nasir County of Upper Nile State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan.[1] The city is on the north side of the Sobat River, about 30km (20miles) from the Ethiopian border. It is the administrative center of Nasir County.

Early days

Charles W. Gwynn passed through this town while he was reconnoitering the Ethiopia–Sudan border in March 1900. There he found "a young Egyptian officer in charge of a small Government post, but he apparently had had no communications with anyone since the river Sobat had fallen, and was anxiously awaiting its rise in hopes of a steamer to replenish his stores."[2]

Civil war

SPLA-Nasir, a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army active from 1991 to 1994, derived their name from the town because it was their base.

In 1991 local rebel leader Riek Machar used Nasir as his base of operations. There he met Emma McCune, a British aid worker who he later married. She died in Nairobi in November 1993 in a traffic accident. In May 1991 large numbers of refugees fleeing the civil war in Ethiopia descended on Nasir, swelling the local population from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

UN Operation Lifeline Sudan subsequently used Nasir as a major distribution point for WFP food distributions and UNICEF operations. These included rinderpest vaccinations of the local cattle population, meningitis vaccination programs, seed and tool inputs as well as emergency feeding programs.

The local airstrip is reputed to have been built by the RAF in the 1930s as a point en route from Khartoum to Nairobi. It was used as a fuel stop for RAF aircraft operations in North and East Africa.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: President Kiir appoints members of Latjor state parliament. Sudan Tribune. 17 March 2016. 14 August 2016.
  2. Gwynn, "The Frontiers of Abyssinia: A Retrospect", Journal of the Royal African Society, 36 (1937), p. 157