A look at South Sudan, the world’s newest country as of Saturday

THE PEOPLE: The south’s population is disputed. A 2008-09 census found that it had 8.26 million, but the southern government argued that the south has between 11 million and 13 million. Of more than 200 ethnic groups, the majority practice traditional or indigenous faiths and Christians remain in the minority. The percentage of southern Muslims is much smaller, though immigrants from the north who practice Islam are well represented in the southern capital.