South Sudan formally declares independence

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese danced and cheered as their new country formally declared its independence on July 9, 2011, a hard-won separation from the north that also plunged the fractured region into a new period of uncertainty.

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, stood next to his old civil war foe, the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who now leads just the north, at a ceremony to mark the birth of the new nation.

Under-developed, oil-producing South Sudan won its independence in a January 2011 referendum, the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of fighting with the north.

Security forces at first tried to control the streets in the south’s dusty capital Juba, but retreated as jubilant crowds moved in overnight and through the day, waving flags, dancing and chanting “South Sudan o-yei, freedom o-yei”.

The North Sudan’s government was the first to recognise South Sudan, hours before the split took place, a move that smoothed the way to the division. The United States, China, India and Britain signalled their recognition of the State on July 9.

However, northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of issues, most importantly the line of the border, the ownership of the disputed Abyei region and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

With the split, the Republic of Sudan lost almost a third of its territory and about three quarters of its oil reserves, which are sited in the south. Sudan now shrinks to being the third largest State in Africa, with about 1.86 million sq km of territory.