South Sudan has one of the highest teenage pregnancy and early marriages rates in the world, which stand at 300 per 1,000 live births and 18.4 per 1,000 adolescent birthrates, a government-sponsored research reveals.

Teenage pregnancy & early marriage is generally a challenge facing South Sudan because it is the major contributor to school drop-out among girls. A few weeks ago, there was a public cry on social media after a 17-year-old Nyalong was being auctioned for marraige to the highest bidder. This sparked public debate and made civil societies urging that the culture need to be lenient toward girls since its unfair to the girls.

About 300 teenage girls per thousand in South Sudan get pregnant, according to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Nadia Arop Dudi.

Citing a research conducted in South Sudan, Dudi said young girls in the country were often forced into early marriages and initiated into sexual relations before reaching adulthood.

Dudi said an estimated 40 percent of girls in the country are married off before age 18.

A total number of 4,204 pregnancies were reported in Jonglei this year alone among school children aged 15 to 19, the highest so far inSouth Sudan.

This is a list of state leading in early marriage & teen pregnancy in South Sudan as of 2018.