Pochalla is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Pibor Administrative Area The Greater Pibor Administrative Area is an administrative area in South Sudan. History From the beginning of South Sudanese independence, the Anyuak, Jie, Kachepo, and Murle people in Jonglei sought greater autonomy from the Jonglei State gove ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

. The capital of the state, where the governor and state parliament is located, is in Bor town, which is situated on the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

River at the western end of the state. Pochalla is to the extreme east of the state, located on the border with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

. Much of the County is sandwiched between two rivers, the Akobo, which forms the national boundary to the east, and the Oboth to the west. The dominant people group are the Anuak who border the Murle to the west and the Nuer to the North, both of whom are cattle keeping tribes, who have a culture of raiding to increase their cattle numbers. To the east in Ethiopia, the Anuak have had tensions with the government, so communications are weak. With the exception of a few administrators and soldiers in the barracks, the entire population of Pochalla County is made up of Anuak. The Anuak are agricultural Nilotes, closely related to the Shilluk in the north and the

Acholi Acholi may refer to: * Acholi people, a Luo nation of Uganda, in the Northern part of the country. * Acholi language Acholi (also Leb Acoli, or Leb Lwo) is a Southern Luo dialect spoken by the Acholi people in the districts of Gulu District, ...

, Alur and Luo to the south. Their culture and language is similar to the other agricultural Nilotes, but very different from the agropastoral Nilotes, the

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of ...

and Nuer. The Anuak people group span the international boundary, and are recognised as being in both

and

. According to the 2008 Census, the total population of Pochalla County was 66,201. In addition to the local population, there are 3,662 Ethiopian refugees in Aleri. These are almost all of the same Anuak ethnic group.

References

Counties of South Sudan Pibor Administrative Area {{SouthSudan-geo-stub