World’s newest nation: Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea

World’s newest nation: Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea

The South Pacific region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to become the world’s newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea.

More than 180,000 people in Bougainville, a collection of islands flung 700km off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea, participated in a referendum over the last few weeks that has been nearly 20 years in the making.

Almost 98% of people (176,928 people) voted for independence.