What is "equatoria"

Equatoria is a region of southern South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile. Originally a province of Egypt, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert. It was an idealistic effort to create a model state in the interior of Africa that never consisted of more than a handful of adventurers and soldiers in isolated outposts.

Equatoria was established by Samuel Baker in 1870. Charles George Gordon took over as Governor in 1874, followed by Emin Pasha in 1878. The Mahdist Revolt put an end to Equatoria as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Later British Governors included Martin Parr. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile and Wadelai. The last two are in the part of Equatoria that is now in Uganda.

Under Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, most of Equatoria became one of the eight original provinces. The state of Bahr el Ghazal was split from Equatoria in 1948. In 1976, Equatoria was further split into the states of East and West Equatoria. The region has been troubled with violence during both the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars, as well as the anti-Ugandan insurgencies based in Sudan, such as the Lord's Resistance Army and West Nile Bank Front.