The absence of South Sudan on Google Maps, and the majority of Internet maps, has frustrated citizens of the new country. As early as
“That’s nice,” John Tanza Mabusu, a broadcast journalist who fled Sudan in 1991 and now lives in Washington, D.C., told Mashable 47 days after South Sudan became a country. “But I would still argue that it’s too late to start talking about that because since the 9th of July, if they were serious, we would have seen the signs of their work.”
Mabusu started a Change.org petition urging Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and National Geographic to update their maps. The petition collected more than 1,600 signatures.
Google is the first of those companies to update its maps. Spokespeople from Yahoo and Mapquest have pointed to map data providers such as NAVTEQ, which has said that it is "currently assessing plans" and cited time-consuming detailed planning.