Turalei
Encyclopedia
Location
Turalei is located in Twic County, Warrap State, in northern South SudanSouth Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, near the borders with the Republic of Sudan and with the Abyei Region
Abyei
The Abyei Area is an area of in Sudan accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the resolution of the Abyei conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. The capital of Abyei Area is Abyei Town...
. This location lies about 834 kilometres (518.2 mi), by road, northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country.
Overview
The Turalei Town is renowned as the birth place of several exceptionally tall basketball players, including the late NBANational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
star Manute Bol
Manute Bol
Manute Bol was a Sudanese-born basketball player and activist. At 7 feet, 7 inches , Bol was one of the tallest players ever to appear in the National Basketball Association, along with Gheorghe Mureşan. Unlike Mureşan, however, Bol was naturally tall and did not have a Pituitary disease...
, who was 7 in 7 in (231.14 cm) and Ring Ayuel, who is 7 in 4 in (223.52 cm). Manute Bol was buried in Turalei.
Due to its proximity to the border with Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
Turalei suffered extensive destruction during the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
of 1983 to 2005. Efforts are underway to assist in the rehabilitation of the settlement. The late Manute Bol was involved in some of those efforts. As a result, a hospital was built in the area.
More recently, in 2011, as hostilities have flared up in neighboring Abyei
Abyei
The Abyei Area is an area of in Sudan accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the resolution of the Abyei conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. The capital of Abyei Area is Abyei Town...
, Turalei has received an influx of refugees, who have overwhelmed local resources. In June 2011, Turalei itself was attacked by militiamen believed to be affiliated with the Khartoum government. Several fatalities were recorded.
