The national flag of newly independent South Sudan has been raised outside the United Nations after becoming the world body's 193rd member on Thursday.

Hundreds of diplomats gathered outside U.N. headquarters in New York to see the flag being raised for the first time after the U.N. General Assembly admitted the country by acclamation.

On Friday, a U.N. telecommunication agency made another gesture in recognition of South Sudan's landmark independence.

The International Telecommunication Union assigned South Sudan a 211 dialing code at the country's request.

The number symbolizes the year South Sudan became its own country after approving a referendum in January.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has praised Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir for ensuring that the south's referendum for independence and its results were honored. He said the north and south share a common destiny and must see a future as true partners, not rivals.

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The world's newest nation declared independence on Saturday, splitting from Sudan. The two sides fought a bloody 21-year civil war that ended in 2005.

The now neighboring countries are still trying to work out disputes over borders and oil revenue. The Ethiopian government says it has started deploying troops to the disputed Abyei region this week. The U.N. Security Council recently authorized deployment of a 4,200 strong-Ethiopian peacekeeping force to monitor the situation there.