Papua New Guinea's legislature formally received the results of a 2019 independence referendum in Bougainville, in which 97.7% of voters supported statehood and a plan for managing a possible separation, Reuters reported Aug. 27. Bougainville is a group of islands east of Papua New Guinea's mainland, where separatists fought government forces in a 1988-1998 civil war. The region governs many of its own affairs but remains part of the country.