The countdown clock ran out, the flag ascended over the fledgling capital and a new nation born from Africa's longest civil war and the deaths of 2 million people joined the world.
The mood in Juba was euphoric Saturday as the Republic of South Sudan formally declared its independence from the north, its bitter antagonist for generations. For the day, at least, a people weary of conflict were willing to ignore that their nation came into being as one the world's most troubled states.
Dozens of heads of state gathered outside the mausoleum of southern war hero John Garang at a massive ceremony featuring marching soldiers. Thousands of Sudanese crammed into the parade grounds, singing and cheering.
The man sworn in as South Sudan's first president, Salva Kiir, stood alongside his old nemesis, northern President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the western region of Darfur. Bashir's presence was a powerful sign that he has acceded to the partition, however grudgingly.
It would not exactly be true to say the country is starting from scratch, because it has been building the rudiments of a functioning government since the 2005 peace deal that made independence possible. But nationhood comes fraught with outsized problems.
The country, roughly the size of France, has profound poverty, the highest incidence of maternal death in the world and one of the lowest rates of elementary school enrollment. More than 90% of the population survives on less than a dollar a day, and nearly one in five people are chronically hungry, according to the United Nations. Only about a third of the population has access to safe drinking water, and only a fourth is literate, the U.N. says.
There are also concerns about the new country's leaders, most of them former rebel fighters united by a foe that, on peace declarations at least, no longer exists.
And devilish issues remain unresolved. Mostly Christian and animist South Sudan says the Arab Muslim north is fomenting insurgencies in its territory. Both claim the oil-rich Abyei region, and they have not decided how to divide their abundant oil revenue: The south has the oil and the north has the pipelines to carry it to market.
With independence, the question of exactly what each side will demand, and will be prepared to risk, is expected to come into sharper focus.
"In a way, the poker game has just begun," said R. Barrie Walkley, the U.S. consul general in Juba, South Sudan's capital. The United States, which helped broker the peace deal, gives South Sudan $300 million a year in development funds and $150 million in food aid, and is financing the building of the country's first paved highway, which will run from the capital to the border with Uganda at a cost of $225 million.
How responsibly the Juba government will spend donor money "is obviously a big concern," Walkley said. "If you talk to the man on the street here, there is the perception that there is corruption at the highest levels."
Although the government has an anticorruption commission, he said, it lacks prosecutorial powers.
U.S. investment here has been discouraged by sanctions against Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, but with independence, South Sudan breaks free of them. USAID will hold a conference this year to give potential American investors a sense of the business landscape.
"There are opportunities here," and the agricultural potential is enormous, Walkley said. "It should be the breadbasket of this part of Africa."
Nhial Bol, owner and editor of the Citizen, a 5,000-circulation daily newspaper with the motto "Fighting Corruption and Dictatorship Everyday," believes the leadership of South Sudan wasn't prepared for independence when voters overwhelmingly approved it in January. What used to unite the men now running the country was their battle against the north, he said, "but they don't have one vision for the nation."
Bol said he has been arrested and detained three times in the last four years — most recently last month — after criticizing officials for corruption and mismanagement.
"People like our leaders have not been challenged in their life," Bol said. Most were once rebel fighters in the bush, and rank brought absolute authority, he said.
In that environment, "you can just choose to claim somebody's life, and nobody can challenge you," Bol said. "Now, if you ask, 'What did you do with the money?' he won't like it."
Recently, he has published critical articles detailing the funneling of large amounts of money to the army without a proper paper trail. "There is no accounting," Bol said. "The corruption here is very high because the culture of war has been institutionalized."
At 0000  Saturday (2100  Friday), the Republic of South Sudan achieved independent recognition, becoming the newest country on the planet. The parliament speaker for the new country recited a formal independence declaration. After independence was declared, the South Sudanese flag was lifted for all to see, with  secretary general Pagan Amum stating: "Today we shall raise the flag of South Sudan to join the nations of the world". 

Thousands of jubilant people celebrated in the new country's capital Juba. They danced in the streets, sang songs and waved flags.  Churches rang their bells at midnight as independence arrived. People crowded to the official ceremonial site, held at the  of  , leader of the rebellion who died several months after the peace deal was signed with Sudan, ending the bloody conflict. Many of the celebrants spoke emotionally of their family members who died in the long struggle with Sudan.

George Garang, an English teacher, said he lost his father, grandfather and eleven brothers. "My whole body feels happy," he said. Valentino Achak Deng, who was a refugee during the war, said: "Really in my heart what makes me happiest is that from today, when people ask me where I am from, I do not have to say Sudan."

 has assumed the role as president of South Sudan. Kiir swore to pledge true alliance and faithfulness to South Sudan. In a speech, Kiir declared amnesty for any who have taken up arms against Sudan.

Kiir insisted that martyrs for the cause of the new country did not die in vain, although South Sudan waited 56 years to be free. The southern Sudanese had agitated for more rights, even before Sudan became free from its British colonizers in 1956. Sudan was divided into three separate demographic groups, with the southern part of the country home to Christians and animists and the northern part dominated by Arab populations and those of Muslim faith. Kiir said to people of , Darfur,  and , who remain part of Sudan, that "we have not forgotten you. When you cry, we cry. When you bleed, we bleed. I pledge to you today that we will find a just peace for all."

Amongst those attending the event were Ban Ki-moon, the current  and , the current president of Sudan. The latter was the guest of honour, despite the fact that the  has a warrant out for his arrest based on offences of  and  in the Darfur region.

"We congratulate our brothers in the south for the establishment of their new state," al-Bashir said at the event. "We share their joy and celebration. The will of the people of the south has to be respected."

Two million individuals died in the  between the two territories of Sudan and Southern Sudan and four million more exiled,  a war that was waged for decades. Control of south Sudan's oil rich reserves was the primary reason for the fighting. An  was signed in  2005, effectively bringing the war to an end, and Sudan became one of the first countries to recognise South Sudan. Under the regulations of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Sudan held an independence referendum. In excess of 99% of those participating in the vote agreed to the concept of independence for South Sudan. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations plans to make the independent state its 193rd recognised country and its 54th African U.N. member state. United States president Barack Obama formerly recognized the new nation on behalf of the US and acknowledged the enormous struggle of its people to achieve independence.

South Sudan remains a desperately poor country, with one in five of its inhabitants chronically hungry, only one third  having access to safe drinking water and with the world's highest rate of maternal death. The country lacks infrastructure such as roads and railways. It remains  torn by ethnic and tribal rivalries and many problems with the north remain unresolved, including the exact boundary line.  Important revenue for Sudan has come from the rich oilfields of the south, keeping the country afloat and essential now for both economies. A formula remains to be developed on how to split these revenues between the two areas.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N.  said today that the peace process between Sudan and North Sudan could come apart if issues  such as the division of the oil revenues and the border location are not solved soon.