11.5.5

Failed States

Test yourself

Failed States

A failed state is a place where the government has failed and no longer fulfils any of the basic functions of modern society.

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Examples of failed states

  • There have been many failed states in Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan.
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Causes of failed states

  • Many of the failed states in Africa were artificially created during European colonial rule in the 19th century.
  • This meant that lots of disparate tribes and ethnicities were thrown into the same country, despite having no apparent shared identity or values, just geographical proximity.
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Sudan

  • Sudan became an independent state in 1955 but has lacked any internal cohesion.
  • It is an ethnically and culturally diverse nation and suffered from a strong sense of internal separatism between its northern and southern regions. It is now split into North and South Sudan.
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Sudan solution?

  • In 2011, after 2 million lives had been lost to conflict, it divided in half when the new state of South Sudan was formed.
  • The remainder of Sudan, in the north, retained its name and the capital city of Khartoum.
  • South Sudan has some of the worst health and development indicators in the world, including an under-fives infant mortality rate of 381 per 1000 and less than 1% of girls in primary school.

Jump to other topics

1Tectonic Processes & Hazards

2Option 2A: Glaciated Landscapes & Change

3Option 2B: Coastal Landscapes & Change

4Globalisation

5Option 4A: Regenerating Places

6Option 4B: Diverse Places

7The Water Cycle & Water Insecurity (A2 only)

8The Carbon Cycle & Energy Security (A2 only)

9Superpowers (A2 only)

10Option 8A: Health & Human Rights (A2 only)

11Option 8B: Migration & Identity (A2 only)

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