FLYING PROUD:The South Sudan flag (middle) flies at UN Headquarters in New York (SHEN HONG)

If joy and happiness could be measured, then millions of South Sudanese would have pushed the meter off the charts when their country got its independence on July 9, 2011.

The foot-thumping, hip-swaying and shoulder-shaking crowd chanted and danced rhythmically to celebrate their new country, their own President Salva Kiir Mayardit and a fresh start without the Khartoum government watching over them. With screams of "free at last," the world's newest state announced that it was ready for take-off.

The people in Juba's Freedom Square next to Dr. John Garang Mausoleum and their kin in Sudan's capital Khartoum and those in Kenya's capital Nairobi all had their emotions sky-high as the Speaker of South Sudan's Parliament, James Wani Igga, finally read the declaration of independence to roars of approval.

"We, the democratically elected representatives of the people, based on the will of the people of South Sudan, and as confirmed by the outcome of the referendum of self-determination, hereby declare South Sudan to be an independent and sovereign nation," the South Sudan Legislative Assembly speaker read out to cheers, ululations and shouts of joy of the thousands who gathered to witness the emotional birth of the world's newest nation.

Heads of states and governments from all over Africa, along with many other world dignitaries were in the small city of Juba to welcome the youngest nation in Africa and in the world to witness the historic event coming after 21 years of a bloody conflict.