When the polling precincts opened at 8 a.m. on Sunday, long lines had already formed outside. Here, Sudanese in the city of Juba can be seen waiting to cast their votes. On Sunday, the people of southern Sudan began voting on an independence referendum  following a historic 2005 peace treaty that brought to an end decades of civil war between the Arab north and predominantly Christian and animist south in Africa's longest-ever civil conflict. More than 2 million people died in the conflict between the north and the south, which began in the 1950s. Experts believe that a clear majority will vote to secede from the north. If they do, the world will witness the first founding of a new African state since Eritrea split off from Ethiopia in 1993. Preliminary results in the vote are expected to be announced by the end of January.