The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has congratulated the newly-elected government on Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
In a statement, the secretary-general has wished the new autonomous government success in fulfilling the high hopes and aspirations of the people of Bougainville.
This comes a day after the government, led by Joseph Kabui, was sworn in in a ceremony attended by local and international dignitaries.
Mr Kabui emerged as winner after a UN-sponsored election that was a key step in a 2001 peace agreement that ended the island's civil war.
The UN Security Council also called Bougainville's elections a historic landmark in the Bougainville peace process, and the council's president Jean Marc de la Sabliere thanked the international community for its support in securing peace on the island.
