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Akobo State

State in South Sudan from 2017 to 2020

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated May 2, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Akobo was a state in South Sudan that existed between 14 January 2017 and 22 February 2020.

01History

Akobo County was separated from Bieh State and made a separate state with the increase in the number of states from 28 to 32 on 14 January 2017. Gabriel Gai Riam was appointed governor on 16 January 2017, after the creation of the state, but was removed and replaced by Johnson Gony Bilieu two days later. Timothy Taban Juch was appointed governor on 19 August 2019 after the death of Johnson Gony Bilieu on 4 July 2019.

Upon its creation, a large part of Akobo State was held by the SPLM-IO.

Akobo experienced heavy flooding in late 2019.

02Demographics

Akobo State is inhabited by the Anyuak and the Lou subgroup of the Nuer. Some Anyuak were unhappy with the creation of the state, feeling that it was created for the Lou Nuer, although the feeling was not unanimous among the Anyuak. Anyuak feel betrayed because Akobo is their historical land.

Watch videos about Akobo StateExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Akobo State”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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