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On 9 July 2011, a new flag was raised in the city of Juba as South Sudan became the world's newest nation.

It followed a peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war in Sudan, which killed more than two million people.

Six months earlier, a referendum in the south of Sudan saw more than 99% of nearly four million voters choose independence.

Malual Bol Kiir was 17 at the time and had been displaced during the conflict. He tells Daniel Rosney how he was overwhelmed with hope and optimism as change finally came.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Southern Sudanese people waving their flags in Juba. Credit: Roberto Schmidt via Getty Images)

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