Obama supporters cheered, cried and hugged each other as the results were announced [AFP]

In his victory speech at Chicago's Grant Park late on Tuesday, Obama told tens of thousands of supporters that "change has come to America".

He will take oath as the next president on January 20 next year.

"If there's anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, tonight is your answer," he said.

"The road ahead will be long ... we may not get there in one year or even in one term but America, I have never been as hopeful as I am tonight that we will get there. We as a people will get there.

But Obama also struck a cautionary note, saying there was still much to be done.

"Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril [and] the worst financial crisis in a century,' he said.

He commended McCain for his hard-fought campaign and said he wanted to work with him in the future

McCain had conceded defeat in a telephone conversation with Obama late on Tuesday.

With results given in 48 states and Washington DC, Obama had swept past the 270 electoral college votes needed for victory, taking 349 to McCain's 162.

Ohio 'turning point'

Obama's race for the White House began to turn decisively in his favour after he won the key battleground state of Ohio. The result was a blow to McCain, as no Republican candidate has managed to gain the presidency without winning the state.

"McCain put his lifeblood into this state, fought county by county, city by city. He really focused on here, he knew he had to, no Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio," John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation newspaper, said.

Obama took at least seven states, with several still to be called, that were won by George Bush, the current president, at his re-election in 2004, according to US media projections.

Bush called his successor to offer his congratulations and invite him to the White House.

"You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations and go enjoy yourself," he said, according to Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman.

The Democratic candidate's victory marks the pinnacle of four centuries of striving for equal rights for African-Americans in the country.

Jesse Jackson Jr, the Obama campaign co-chair, said: "Barack Obama as the 44th president ... it is mind-boggling, mind-blowing.
 
"Our children walk into a very different America tomorrow," said.
 
"For some people it is the end of a two-year campaign and for others it has been a 200-year trek ... The civil rights movement, among others, have made this moment possible."

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