As of 2015, the newest country in the world is South Sudan. This country officially declared its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, after a decades-long civil war.
Since independence, South Sudan has faced a number of challenges. First, the country is in the midst of another civil war between various ethnic and political movements that wish to gain power in the country and control its substantial natural resources.
The world's second-youngest country is Kosovo, which declared its independence on Feb. 17, 2008. A U.N.-administered province since 1999, Kosovo had been involved in a long civil war with Serbia.