[3] The largest communities of the South Sudanese diaspora are located in North America, Western Europe, and Oceania are in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and small communities exist in Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand.

[4] Activist Achol Jok Mach has spoken out about her experience growing up in the diaspora in Cuba and Canada and how it affected her identity, she said: "I was only ever told, "You are South Sudanese"...

[8] Similar polling booths were set up in the Canadian cities of Calgary and Toronto, to cater to the South Sudanese population there; an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Sudanese[clarification needed] live in Canada, about 2,200 of whom had registered to vote in either of the two cities.

Some Canadian South Sudanese have called for a boycott of the referendum, accusing the International Organization for Migration, which was tasked with operating the vote in that country, of "being influenced by the government in Khartoum.

"[7] Calgary-based journalist Mading Ngor of The New Sudan Vision dismissed these claims as "a conspiracy theory," adding "It's a very fragmented community here along tribal lines.