Celebrations from southerners excited about the birth of their new nation are scheduled to begin soon. Almost everyone expects the south to vote overwhelmingly to break away from the north, cleaving Africa's largest nation in two to create the world's newest country.

Officials and observers reported high voter turnout.

Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, the chairman of the south's referendum commission, said 83 percent of those registered in the south and 53 percent of those registered in the north had cast their votes. He also cited a 91 percent turnout rate among Sudanese voters in eight other countries. Officials had said there were some 3.9 million registered voters.

Khalil said he believed the referendum would be judged as "a good result by any international standard," noting that the commission set up the vote in four months.

"We have come a long way, making long strides to reach the stage where we are today," said Khalil, a lawyer from northern Sudan who is 90 years old.

He echoed predictions that the south would choose to split from the north. "All indications show that the south will lean toward separation," he said, adding, "I don't derive any pleasure from announcing the splitting of Sudan in two ... on the contrary, I would rather have hoped the country would remain united."

Southern Sudanese voter Naima Mubarak, 23, cast her vote on the last day of polling because she had just flown back with her husband and family from Khartoum, the northern capital, where she has lived for the past decade.

Asked if she and her family would be returning to the north, she shook her head. "We will now stay and settle here," she said.

Sudan's ruling party in the north said Friday it was ready to accept southern independence. Border demarcation, oil rights and the status of the contested region of Abyei still have to be negotiated.

If the process stays on track, southern Sudan will become the world's newest country in July.

The referendum was mostly peaceful, but there were scattered attacks the previous weekend. Polling stations in Juba were jammed Sunday and Monday, but slowed to a trickle in later days.

The referendum commission also announced Saturday that polling would be extended in parts of Australia, where flooding had prohibited some Sudanese voters from getting to the polls.

The proposal needs only a simple majority to pass.

Individual polling stations will begin posting their results on Sunday. Official results will be released early February.

Former US President Jimmy Carter has been in Sudan this week to monitor the historic independence vote and to meet with top officials, and he praised the poll's high turnout and orderliness. His foundation, the Carter Center, has been involved in health programs and democracy building in Sudan for more than two decades.

He said he expected the Khartoum-based government to honor the poll's results. "I think (northerners) will recognize the results immediately," he said.