South Sudan, the world's youngest country, is already on a path to disaster.

Violence continued after a peace agreement in 2005; in July 2011, the southern part of the country became an independent state. But the fledgling South Sudan, a ward of the international community despite its oil revenues, immediately faced challenges: millions of displaced people hoping to return home, 50 years of neglected infrastructure, and massive food shortages. Add to that a severe malarial epidemic, an ongoing showdown with Khartoum, and continuing violence in nine of its 10 states, and it's no surprise South Sudan has become what many have dubbed the world's first pre-failed state. Here is a portrait the country during its difficult first year.

Above, a child belonging to the Dinka ethnic group waits for medicine to be distributed in a refugee camp near Turalei, a village located a few miles from the North Sudanese border.

Fabio Bucciarelli /LUZphoto

South Sudan has a population of around 8 million, but the decades of conflict have made accurate census data difficult to obtain. The Dinka, the largest of the four major ethnic groups in the region, are largely Christian, and were among those that opposed the Muslim-dominated government in the north. That's not the only major regional conflict, however: Inter-ethnic conflict in South Sudan among the four major groups, most specifically between the Dinka and their Nuer rivals, threatens to further fracture the brittle new state.

Above, Dinka women and their cow stand beside their hut on the outskirts of Turalei. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Above, an aerial view shows Bor, a river town located on the east bank of the White Nile in central South Sudan. In 1983, 500 soldiers in Bor revolted when they were ordered to serve in the north. The Sudanese army lieutenant colonel who was sent to quash the rebellion, a Dinka named John Garang, defected to encourage the mutiny. The revolt morphed into the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which formed a military wing that grew to nearly 60,000 by 1990. Garang died in a helicopter crash in 2005.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Today, the bulk of the South Sudanese military is made up of SPLA forces, and many SPLM members now hold government positions in the new administration, including the presidency.

Above, SPLA soldiers await orders at the their general headquarters near Bentiu, the capital city of South Sudan's Unity State.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Because so much of the Sudanese conflict has raged in the south -- where most of the country's oil fields are located -- an estimated 500,000 South Sudanese refugees were living in the north until they were forced to leave by Apr. 8, 2012.  Over the past few months, at least 4,000 refugees have returned to South Sudan each day, but murky citizenship laws mean that thousands could be caught in a stateless limbo.

Above, a woman sits in the temporary camp for returnees near Turalei, close to the border between the Sudans.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Conflict in South Sudan persists between at least seven armed groups with disparate agendas, ranging from fear of the new government to old ethnic grudges. Thousands have died in inter-ethnic conflict since South Sudan declared independence.

Here, SPLA soldiers rest with their families during a break at the general headquarters near Bentiu. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Refugee camps in South Sudan face massive food and water shortages. Refugees are known to go for days without food, and some have taken to gnawing on tree bark to survive.

Above, children play with a donkey at a refugee camp along the border between Sudan and South Sudan.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

While the fighting takes a huge toll, malaria is the foremost cause of death in South Sudan, and the government's limited capacity only contributes to the country's inability to fight off infectious diseases.

Here, the father of a boy infected with malaria waves a towel to dispel flies and mosquitoes in Turalei's hospital. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

A deer lies dead in a pond near Bentiu.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

After years of cohabitation, monkeys living in the wild in South Sudan have adopted soldiers' habits. Here, an SPLA soldier passes a cigarette to a monkey.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

On June 19, an SPLA spokesperson claimed that Sudanese forces continued to attack South Sudanese land even as peace negotiations were taking place in Ethiopia. He said such moves violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and accused Sudanese forces of continuing to plan attacks despite the ceasefire.

Above, SPLA soldiers await orders at the army's general headquarters near Bentiu.

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Many Dinka who migrated to Khartoum from volatile southern areas have been forced to return in recent months, escalating humanitarian concerns along the heavily trafficked border. A coalition of Sudanese rebel groups recently rejected a deal that demanded a ceasefire in return for the delivery of humanitarian aid to people in the border areas.

Above, a  Dinka child stands under a makeshift shelter near the border with Sudan. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

The new government is still struggling to assert control and has been plagued by workers' strikes and reports of corruption. President Salva Kiir recently offered amnesty for anyone who had stolen from the government in hopes of moving forward, saying, "We fought for freedom, justice and equality. Many of our friends died to achieve these objectives. Yet, once we got to power, we forgot what we fought for and began to enrich ourselves at the expense of our people. The credibility of our government is on the line."

Here, young Sudanese boys play billiards in a bar in Juba, the South Sudanese capital. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Coptic Christanity reached Sudan in the first century after Christ's death, and was revitalized by British missionaries in the 19th century. Although the majority of Sudan is Muslim, South Sudan has a higher population of Christians, and the conflict often takes on a sectarian hue. Many in the South follow indigenous faiths, however.

Above, a coffin marked with a Christian cross lies in front of a house in Juba's outskirts. 

Fabio Bucciarelli / LUZphoto

Although South Sudan has arable land, much of it has been abandoned during the conflict. Water is scarce, and the new country's irrigation infrastructure will need to be revitalized if it is ever to become self-sustaining. As fighting rages along the borderlands this summer, crop planting is being delayed, raising the specter of a new humanitarian crisis.

Here, a boy sits on an irrigation pipe near Juba.

Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/20/south_sudan_next_years_failed_state