Southern Sudan's much anticipated referendum on whether to secede commenced Jan. 9 with a high

voter turnout and much rejoicing. Yet there were also reports of deadly violence in the north-south border

areas, and tensions remained high in Africa's largest country. The weeklong vote, expected to lead to the

formation of the world's newest nation, is a result of a 2005 peace agreement between the Sudanese

government and southern rebels after decades of civil war between the predominantly Arab Muslim north

and mostly Christian and animist south. Despite the relative ease of the vote, many key issues, such as

precise borders and the status of the disputed oil-rich Abyei region, have yet to be resolved. The new

nation may also have to reckon with up to half a million southerners returning home from the north.