Life in southern Sudan - in pictures

On 9 July 2011, southern Sudan will become the world's newest country following January's landslide vote for independence. Yet the sense of a new beginning is counterbalanced by the fact that decades of war have left southern Sudan with a dangerous legacy of poverty, inequality, and insecurity Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Women in southern Sudan queue to vote in the referendum at a polling station in Bentiu, the capital of the oil-producing Unity state situated on the border with the north. Unity was the scene of deadly clashes between the southern army and renegade militiamen in the run-up to the vote. The week-long referendum was a crucial part of the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement between the north and the south; over 99% of people voted for independence Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP

Southern Sudanese families wait to board buses on the outskirts of Khartoum. Years of internal strife have left a legacy of displacement but, ahead of independence, hundreds of thousands of southern Sudanese have returned home Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP

The influx into the south includes not only those returning to celebrate independence but also people who have fled the north in fear of reprisals and renewed violence. The convergence of people is expected to place an even greater strain on already stretched basic services such as water, sanitation, food and shelter Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A woman walks on an unpaved road in Juba. There are few tarmac roads in southern Sudan, and large areas of the country are cut off during the rainy season. Feeder roads connecting rural areas with southern Sudan's towns are likely to be prioritised by development projects over the next few years Photograph: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

A southern Sudanese woman does her washing as children bathe. Over half the region's population has no access to safe drinking water, a situation NGOs are trying to improve. Oxfam, for example, is working with communities in the states of Warrap, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Lakes, Western Equatoria and Upper Nile to provide safe water and sanitation Photograph: KHALED EL FIQI/EPA

Healthcare in southern Sudan will be a major challenge. Some 75% of the region's population lacks access to even the most basic healthcare and the new country will have some of the worst health indicators in the world: an estimated one in seven women die during pregnancy and one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Immunisation rates in southern Sudan are among the world's lowest Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

Students attend a maths class in Yambio. Decades of civil war meant generations of southern Sudanese had no education. Schools continue to struggle with a lack of basic equipment and trained teachers. A recent UN report said more than 1 million primary school age children are out of school and fewer than 400 girls make it to the last grade of secondary school. The UN has called on the international community to increase its support for the development of a national education system Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Taban, 18, works on a broken motorcycle at a roadside garage in Juba. Southern Sudan's population will be among the world's youngest, with an estimated 51% under the age of 18. Improving their life chances will be key to the new country's future Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Southern Sudanese hairdressers work at a salon in a Juba market. Supporting small businesses is likely to be a top donor priority following independence Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

Water pours into a pond near a drilling site in the Unity oil field in southern Sudan. The region's economy is deeply dependent on its oil income - nearly 80% of Sudan's crude oil output is pumped from the south. Ensuring oil and other revenues are used and distributed to the benefit of southern Sudan's poorest people will be a key challenge Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

A woman waits at a World Food Programme distribution centre in Agok. According to the South Sudan NGO Forum, there are more than 150 international NGOs registered in the region. In 2010, around 4.3 million people – nearly half southern Sudan's population – required food aid at some point during the year, and many observers have highlighted agriculture as a top development priority Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

People gather around the UN mission in Sudan's headquarters in Kadugli town. Tens of thousands have fled fighting in Southern Kordofan after clashes between northern and southern forces. Alongside a long list of development challenges, southern Sudan faces an immediate security problem. International aid organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis along the still-contested border between north and south Photograph: HO/Reuters

Southern Sudan leader Salva Kiir (l) and Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir attend a special AU meeting on Sudan in January. Though the world's focus has turned to the south, the referendum effectively creates two new states and Khartoum is struggling to prepare for the effects of the south's succession. In June 2011, Ali Mahmood Hassanein, Sudanese minister of finance and national economy in Khartoum, said the north will lose a third of its income after the south's independence. In April, the IMF warned that the north 'will need to adjust to a permanent shock' Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP

A group of teenagers play a game of dominoes by a road in Yambio. With independence comes high expectations for the future. In this month's Global development Focus podcast, Mabior Philip, a 25-year-old living in Juba, says that despite the challenges he has hope for southern Sudan. 'There's a saying that a bad beginning makes a good ending. So I know for us, beginning like this from nowhere almost, I know we shall go somewhere. You know, even to count to a million you need to start from zero, maybe by [the] 9th we shall go to one' Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images