Wau, South Sudan
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Wau واو |
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Huts outside Wau, 2008
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| Motto: Arabic: واو نار English:(Wau Naar Wau Nuur Wau mayi Nom) Wau is Fire,wau is light,wau shall not sleep | |
 Wau
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| Coordinates: 07°42′00″N 28°00′00″E / 7.70000°N 28.00000°ECoordinates: 07°42′00″N 28°00′00″E / 7.70000°N 28.00000°E | |
| Country | South Sudan |
| Region | Bahr el Ghazal |
| State | Wau State |
| County | Kwajieno County |
| Elevation | 433 m (1,420 ft) |
| Population (2014 est.) | |
| • Total | 232,910 |
| Time zone | GMT+3 |
Wau (Arabic: واو Wāw; also Wow or Waw) is a city in northwestern South Sudan, on the western bank of the Jur River, in Wau County, Wau State. It lies approximately 650 kilometres (400 mi) northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in that country.
Wau was initially established as a zariba (fortified base) by slave-traders in the 19th century. During the time of condominium rule, the city became an administrative center
Burr and Collins in 1994 described Wau: as follows:
No one has ever been "at home" in Wau. It is surrounded by a host of disorganized and diverse peoples . . . It was and remains a town belonging to no single ethnic group, deriving its importance only from its position as a commercial and administrative center . . . Located in the midst of the vast Nilotic plain hundreds of miles from nowhere, it was miserable under the best of circumstances . . .
During the Second Sudanese Civil War, it was a garrison town of the Khartoum-based Sudanese Armed Forces, and was the scene of extensive fighting in the spring of 1998. Battles erupted again in the town in the spring of 2007, killing several hundred people.
In 2010 the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment (South Sudan) proposed to reshape the city as a giraffe.
In 2016, Wau experienced heavy clashes that displaced much of its Fertit population and led to widespread destruction.
The city of Wau is the headquarters of Wau State, in which it lies. It also served as the capital of the erstwhile Western Bahr el Ghazal State, one of the original ten (10) states which constitute the Republic of South Sudan. The city is a culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse urban center. Its residents include peoples of Fertit, Dinka, Luo, and Arab ethnicity.
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