Above: What Are The World’s Newest Countries? What Are The Newest Countries In The World?
In 2016, South Sudan will turn just five years old. The new country has spent decades fighting for its independence. So what are some of the other countries that recently obtained their independence and autonomy? Many people do not realize that over the past 30 years approximately 10 new countries have formed and declared their independence from other countries.
Montenegro
Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, and Albania to the south-east. Podgorica is the capital and largest city of Montenegro, and was also called Titograd from 1946 to 1992 when Montenegro was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). On the basis of an independence referendum held on May 21, 2006 Montenegro declared its independence on June 3, 2006.
Classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, Montenegro is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Central European Free Trade Agreement, and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Montenegro is also a candidate negotiating to join the European Union and NATO. On December 2, 2015 Montenegro received an official invitation to join NATO, whereby it would be the 29th member country. This invitation was meant to start final accession talks.
South Sudan
South Sudan (officially the Republic of South Sudan) is a landlocked country in northeastern Africa that gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. The current capital of South Sudan is Juba, which is also its largest city. South Sudan became an independent state on July 9, 2011 following a referendum that passed with approximately 98.83% of the vote. South Sudan is a United Nations member state, a member state of the African Union, the East African Community, and of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. In July 2012, South Sudan signed the Geneva Conventions. South Sudan has suffered internal conflict since its independence, and as of 2016 it has the second highest score on the Fragile States Index (formerly the Failed States Index).