From the BBC:

The declaration, read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, said Kosovo would be a democratic country that respected the rights of all ethnic communities.

The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognise Kosovo on Monday.

Serbia has threatened Kosovo with diplomatic and economic sanctions, but not force. Its ally, Russia, also opposes Kosovan independence.

See a map of Kosovo’s ethnic breakdown

Correspondents say the potential for trouble between Kosovo’s Serbs and ethnic Albanians is enormous.

Serbia’s Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is to make a televised address at 1500 GMT.