Africa · Eastern Africa
How to draw South Sudan from memory
South Sudan is a single continuous landmass, roughly as wide as it is tall. Lock that proportion in before you worry about any individual stretch of border. Its border sits in the middle of the difficulty range — enough straight sections to anchor you, enough detail to punish a careless stroke.
- Difficulty
- medium
- Population
- 11.1 m
- Code
- SSD
- Attempts
- 226
- Avg score
- 65
- Best
- 67
Draw South Sudan
Practice · draw from memory
South Sudan
A four-step strategy for South Sudan
- 01
Start by fixing the overall footprint. South Sudan is close to square overall, so a lopsided sketch loses points fast.
- 02
Anchor one unmistakable feature — the straightest border section or the sharpest cape — and draw outward from it in a single continuous stroke.
- 03
Close the loop back to where you started. An open shape gets filled unpredictably and drags your score down.
- 04
Submit, read the nine-sector grid, and redraw immediately. The sector readout names the region you under-drew, and a second attempt typically gains 10–20 points.
PlumCobra
FJQuick facts
- Continent
- Africa
- Subregion
- Eastern Africa
- Outline pieces
- 1
- Detail score
- 2.31
Three things that go wrong when people sketch South Sudan
Each one is measured off the outline the game scores, not copied from a reference atlas: the proportions, the straight sections and the way the shape breaks into pieces are all properties of the coordinates your stroke gets compared against.
It narrows sharply toward the north
The outline is 8.6× wider at the bottom of the shape than at the top, so the broad part belongs in the south. Most failed sketches here put the wide section at the wrong end.
South Sudan is close to square
Width against height comes out at 1.26 to 1, so the shape neither runs away sideways nor stretches vertically. Set that box first: with a near-square country almost every lost point comes from the coast detail inside it, not the footprint.
Close the loop before adding detail
South Sudan occupies a 440×349 unit box on the game canvas. Fill that box with one continuous closed stroke first: the scorer compares filled area, so an open outline loses the interior it never enclosed.
Answer key: the real shape of South Sudan
- Box on the canvas
- 440 × 349 units
- Width to height
- 1.26 : 1
- Separate landmasses
- 1
- Longest straight run
- Nothing over 8% of the perimeter
- Coast against silhouette
- 1.24× the wrapping outline
Open it after you have drawn South Sudan at least once. Seeing the shape first replaces the recall the score is meant to measure with tracing, and tracing always scores higher than remembering.
Why South Sudan is scored this way
Country Drawing does not compare your sketch to a picture of South Sudan. It scales and centres both your stroke and the real border into the same box, fills them, and measures how much of the two shapes overlap relative to their combined area. That means you are never punished for drawing South Sudan small, off to one side, or rotated slightly — only for getting the shape itself wrong. The nine-sector grid then splits the real border into a 3×3 mesh and reports coverage per cell, which is how it can tell you that you lost the whole eastern edge rather than just handing you a number.
South Sudan by the numbers
South Sudan covers 619,745 km², which makes it the 42nd largest of 190 countries in the game and the 20th largest in Africa. The capital is Juba at about 7°N, 30°E, and it sits in Eastern Africa. It touches Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, and 100% of its area sits in one main landmass. Being landlocked, there is no sea edge to help you orient it.
Next to South Sudan: its land neighbours
Size is what the outline has to fill, so comparing the countries that share this border side by side is the fastest way to get the proportions into your head before you draw.
| Country | Area | Population | Capital | Pieces | vs South Sudan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Sudanthis page | 619,745 km² | 11.1 m | Juba | 1 | — |
 Central African Republic | 622,984 km² | 4.7 m | Bangui | 1 | 1.01× |
 DR Congo | 2,344,858 km² | 86.8 m | Kinshasa | 1 | 3.78× |
 Ethiopia | 1,104,300 km² | 112.1 m | Addis Ababa | 1 | 1.78× |
 Kenya | 580,367 km² | 52.6 m | Nairobi | 1 | 0.94× |
 Sudan | 1,886,068 km² | 42.8 m | Khartoum | 1 | 3.04× |
 Uganda | 241,550 km² | 44.3 m | Kampala | 1 | 0.39× |
Draw these next
Countries near South Sudan share border conventions and coastline styles, which makes them the most useful follow-up practice.
Working through one country at a time is slow. Take the blank map of africa and label the whole region from memory — it shows you which neighbours you have never actually seen.
South Sudan drawing questions
How big is South Sudan?
South Sudan covers 619,745 km², ranking 42nd of 190 countries here by land area and 20th in Africa. About 26% of the area of DR Congo.
What is the capital of South Sudan?
The capital is Juba at about 7°N, 30°E. The game scores the shape of the border rather than the position of any city, so the capital and its coordinates are here to help you place South Sudan on a blank map.
Is South Sudan hard to draw?
It is rated medium, and carries more outline detail than 38% of the 190 borders in this game. The shape has to be placed as 1 landmass, with no straight edge longer than 8% of the perimeter to anchor it.
Which countries border South Sudan?
South Sudan shares a land border with Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, so the entire outline is made of these frontiers.