New state set to be recognised as independent

Atlases around the world will have to be reprinted in the coming days as Southern Sudan looks set to vote overwhelmingly in favour of independence.

Voting begins on Sunday across the region which has been the scene of violent confrontations over the years. Southern Sudan is almost entirely Christian, it's populations consist of members of over 200 different indigenous ethnic groups. Meanwhile the north of the country is home to an Arab majority who have been accused of exploiting and discriminating against the indigenous population of the south.

A long running civil war between 1983 and 1997 left almost 2 million people dead, mainly from starvation and disease. Despite a ceasefire, a conflict in the Western Region of Darfur continued until last year when a truce was signed. The war with the south officially ended in 2005 when an agreement was reached which would allow it to vote on it's own future.

Southern Sudan (Blue), Darfur (Green) Abyei (Red), Eastern Front (Purple) and Blue Nile & Nuba Mountains (Pink)

Meanwhile the tiny area of Abyei is also set to vote on independence later in the year. On the same day of the southern referendum the areas of Blue Nile & Nuba Mountains are to hold consulative meetings to discuss their futures. The overall result could see Sudan splitting into six or seven different states within the coming years.

Speaking to the BBC, Lieutenant-General James Hoth Mai of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) , a rebel group turned political party, said:

"I am really happy to see that we are going to end this thorny road we have been on. Whether I was alive or dead, I knew those who were still alive would make it - we were determined to reach this day."

Major General JJ Okot went on to say:

"This is going to be the final war, by giving my vote for the freedom of our people. It supplements the energy and the efforts we exerted. It supplements the loss of colleagues who fell in the battlefield in search of freedom."