evidence: Abyei: Sudan and South Sudan’s new chance to solve old disputes [...] Lying on the border between the two countries, Abyei has been a disputed area since South Sudan become independent in 2011. In the run-up to the independence referendum, Khartoum and Juba argued fiercely over whether the territory ought to belong to the north or south. The outcome was initially seen as particularly significant due to the presence of large oil reserves in the region, though after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that most oil fields fell outside Abyei, the focus shifted to the area’s economic and sociopolitical importance. [...] This point is crucial. According to a 2008 estimate, the population of West Kordofan state, the homeland of the Misseriya, was 1.3 million. The population of the Ngok Dinka was just 200,000. This means that if the Misseriya voted in a referendum, Abyei would almost certainly become part of Sudan, given that West Kordofan is a state in Sudan. If only the Ngok Dinka were eligible, the result would go the other way. In fact, in a unilateral and unsanctioned vote held in October 2013, the Ngok Dinka voted almost unanimously to join South Sudan.