The Southern Sudan Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation (SSCCSE) released official results for Sudan's Fifth Population and Housing Census on 6 June. Officials of the centre confirmed figures previously released by Sudan's Population Census Council indicating that southern Sudan's population stood at 8.26 million, but they expressed concern over some results issued for the population of the country's 15 northern states.

The Southern Sudan Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation (SSCCSE) released official results for Sudan's Fifth Population and Housing Census on 6 June. Officials of the centre confirmed figures previously released by Sudan's Population Census Council indicating that southern Sudan's population stood at 8.26 million, but they expressed concern over some results issued for the population of the country's 15 northern states.

Speaking at a press conference in the regional capital of Juba, SSCCSE chairman Isaiah Chol Aruai questioned statistics indicating a sharp increase in the population of the war-torn Darfur region in recent years, surprisingly low figures for the number of southern Sudanese who live in the northern part of the country and a 324 per cent jump in the north's nomadic population in spite of ongoing urbanization throughout Sudan.

Aruai told reporters that the SSCCSE organized and conducted the census operation in southern Sudan from start to finish and did not encounter any interference from the government of President Omer al-Bashir. "We are responsible for our figures for the southern Sudan population," he said. "The north has never manipulated our data. However, we are concerned about the results of the north, as what happens in the north affects the south and vice versa."

The chairman stated that technical disagreements between his office and his counterparts in northern Sudan delayed release of the final census results. "We had some issues surrounding the census that had to be sorted out before the results could be released," said Aruai. "We got the green light from our president only two days ago."

Aruai said his office has tried to resolve the disputes with the north but has not succeeded thus far. "We asked them to exchange our raw data, they refused and we are wondering why they are refusing," said the chairman. "That has been a bone of contention."

The SSCCSE head rejected the idea of conducting a new census to resolve the current disagreements between northern and southern Sudan on the grounds that it was "technically out of the question." Aruai said the disputes require a political solution because the census results could have implications for existing power- and wealth- sharing arrangements.

The census results released on Saturday show a 55 per cent increase in the number of people living in the ten states of southern Sudan since 1983. Official results released in Khartoum have indicated a 101 per cent jump in the population of the country's 15 northern states during that same period.

Females account for 48.1 per cent of southern Sudan's overall population, and 72 percent of the region's residents are less than 30 years old. Aruai assured reporters that the fact of a male majority in the southern Sudanese population should not be a source of surprise because similar findings had emerged from previous population surveys in Sudan and in neighboring countries like Ethiopia, Egypt and Kenya.