The new nation of South Sudan has announced plans to move its capital from the bustling and crowded large city of Juba to a small town in the north that offers enough space to expand, world media said.
"The council of ministers has decided that the capital city will be relocated from Juba," the government's Secretary General Abdon Agaw said, adding the new capital would be located in the city of Ramciel, which lies along the Nile River in Lakes State.
The decision taken on Friday has to be approved by the parliament of South Sudan and is unlikely to result in any imminent change as the new capital would have to be built from scratch.
But the move has been pondered for months and the country's Information Minister Maria Benjamin, quoted by local media, has said the relocation process would be completed within about six years.
South Sudan became independent in July after a January referendum. Battles are still raging in disputed territory along the South Sudanese borders with Sudan to the North.
