SUMMARY

The Dinka is the largest ethnic group in South Sudan and the largest non-Arabic ethnic group in Sudan. They are mainly cattle pastoralists, but to some extent also rely on farming, in accordance with the different seasons of the year. The Dinka live on either side of the White Nile and across Bahr al-Ghazal and traditional Dinka culture follows the flooding and receding of the Nile waters. The over-arching Dinka group is divided into different sub-divisions, which are split further into smaller sub-groups. Even though the sub-divisions and sub-groups occasionally fight each other, mainly related to cattle-raiding, they most often unite if they come into conflict with an outside enemy.

Panyar Dinka is a sub-group of the larger Gok Dinka, which is one of many divisions within the overarching Dinka ethnic group. The Gok Dinka mainly inhibits the western part of the Cueibet and Rumbek North counties of Lakes State in South Sudan. They are a mainly semi-itinerant pastoralist people, who depend on their cattle stock for their livelihood. Traditionally, while the Gok Dinka were never as prosperous as other Dinka sub-groups, they were at relative peace with other co-inhabiting tribes. For example, intermarriages between Gok Dinka and Agar Dinka, or the Jul Chol people, were being described as frequent.

The Gok division (like many others) is highly complex. Initially, the Gok Dinka was comprised of two major sections; the Landiing and the Macar. The Macar of today comprises the Panyar Dinka among other sub-groups. The Panyar Dinka are further dived into four sub-sections; the Amal, Amel, Kongor, and Yiep. At the beginning, the Gok Dinka lived in an area east of the Nile, named Waat. When the area was hit by a drought, and the different sub-groups subsequently started to disagree politically, they re-located to different areas of the country. The Panyar Dinka moved to present-day northern areas of Lakes State in South Sudan.

The Rek Dinka is a subgroup of the Dinka from the Warrap State of South Sudan. The Dinka is a mainly agro-pastoral people living over a wide area in Southern Sudan. While the term "Dinka" has been used for centuries by others, they themselves use the term "Moinjaang," or "the people of the people." In the dry season the group relies on cattle herding, whereas they live in fixed settlements and grow millet in the rainy season.

Although estimates of their size vary between 2.5 and 4.5 million, it is commonly held that they are the largest ethnic group in Southern Sudan (South Sudan after its independence in 2011). The group consists of nine sub-divisions, the largest of which is the Malula. There is no centralised political authority for the group, and the sub-groups are subsequently independent, while interlinked. However, some of the sub-groups have ritual chiefs who provide leadership for the entire people.

The Dinkas pastoral way of life and their religious animist believes have caused bad relations with the Islamic government in Khartoum. The late Johan Garang, founder of the rebel organsiation SPLA, was a Dinka and the Dinka together with the Nuer (the second largest ethnic group in Southern Sudan) supplied the bulk of guerrilla forces. Dinkas, as well as other nationalities in Southern Sudan suffered during the 21-year armed conflict. In 1991 SPLA split along ethnic lines, pitting the Dinka and the Nuer against each other. The south-on-south violence continued through the remains of the civil war, with the Khartoum government fanning the flames. Many Dinkas were displaced and lived either as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or as refugees in the neighbouring countries.

The Rek Dinka have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.