Iranian diaspora

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The term Iranians abroad or Iranian diaspora refers to the Iranian people born in Iran but living outside of Iran with their children.

As of 2010, there are an estimated four to five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in North America, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the broader Middle East.[1][2][3] For the most part they emigrated after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. In addition, a considerable number of people who claim Iranian origins are found in Pakistan and Muslim communities in India.

As of 2012 there were an estimated 1,340,000 Iranian-born expatriates: 100,000 Christians, 1,030,000 Muslims. less than 1,000 Hindus, less than 1000 Buddhists, 100,000 Jews, 40,000 Other religions and 60,000 religiously unaffiliated.[4] A number of Iranians have converted to Christianity in the diaspora, and Iranian churches exist in countries like the USA and the UK.[5]

Their combined net worth is $1.3 trillion (2006 est.)[1][6] In 2000, the Iran Press Service reported that Iranian expatriates had invested between $200 and $400 billion in the United States, Europe, and China, but almost nothing in Iran.[3] In Dubai, Iranian expatriates have invested an estimated $200 billion (2006).[7] Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.[8]

Contents

Expatriate fund [edit]

See also: Iranian expatriates' role in privatizations in Iran and Foreign portfolio investment in Iran

The government has proposed setting up a joint investment fund with $5 billion in basic capital and an economic union to serve Iranians living abroad. The stated goal is to attract investment from Iranian expatriates and using their experience in stimulating foreign investments.[9] Later, in 2010, it was announced that Iran will start the process by creating a national fund with a basic capital of eight million euros. This fund will later transform into a bank.[1]

The currency used in the fund is the euro and investors are supported by the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran. Iran will pay a guaranteed 10 percent interest on foreign investment.[10] The value of each share in the fund is 1,000 euros. The minimum and the maximum investment amounts are 100,000 and 500,000 shares [sic], respectively.[10]

Statistics by country [edit]

List of countries and territories by Iranian population
Country[note 1] Iranian-born[note 2] Residents of Iranian ancestry[note 3] Article
 United States 283,225 (2000)[note 4][11] 338,266 (2000 United States Census)[note 4][note 5][12] to 1-1.5 million (2009)[13][14] Iranian American
 Qatar 270, 000[15] Iranians in Qatar
United Arab Emirates UAE 400,000-500,000[16][17] (2008) [note 4][18]
 Canada 95,420 (2006) 121,505[note 4] (99,225 as single response and 22,280 among multiple responses)[19]
 Germany 100,000[20] - 120,000[21] (2003)
 Kuwait 80,000 (2003)[22]
 Malaysia 60,000-70,000[23][24] (2011)[25]
 Sweden 53,892 (2000)[3] 12,464 (2003)[note 2][26]
 Japan 12,000 (2000) [27] 7,000 (2000)[26]
 Russia 50,000 (2002)[28]
 Bahrain 48,000 (1998)[29]
 Israel 47,800 (2007)[30] 135,000 (2007)[2][30]
 United Kingdom 42,494 (2000)[3][31]
 Netherlands 30,617 (2009)[32]
 Australia 34,455 (2011)[33] 18,798 (2001)[note 4][34]
 France 18,376 (2000)[3]
 Turkey 7,831 (1990)[26]
 Denmark 8,977 (1991)[26]
 Italy 7,444 (2010)[26]
 Austria 5,926{ (2001)[26]
 Switzerland 4,044 (2000)[26]
 Norway 4,095 (2001)[26]
 New Zealand 2,895 (2006)[35]
 Spain 2,334 (2007)[36]
 Portugal 339 (2011)[37]
Total

Notes [edit]

[note 1] The Iranian citizens abroad differ from the other Iranian peoples living in other areas of Greater Iran, who are of related ethnolinguistical family, speaking languages belonging to the Iranian languages, which is a branch of Indo-European languages. There are an estimated 150 to 200 million native speakers of Iranian languages (including 70 million in Iran as of 2006), the five major groups of Persians, Lurs, Pashtuns, Kurds and Baloch accounting for about 90% of this number.[38] Currently, most of these Iranian people live in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, parts of Uzbekistan (especially Samarkand and Bukhara), the Caucasus (Ossetia and Azerbaijan) and the Kurdish areas (referred to as Kurdistan) of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Smaller groups of Iranian people can also be found in western China, southern Pakistan and a few in western India. Due to recent migrations, there are also large communities of speakers of Iranian languages in Europe, the Americas and Israel.

[note 2] In some countries naturalized citizens, dual citizens, or children with only one Iranian/foreign-born parent are counted (for statistical purposes) as citizens/nationals of the host country only (i.e. citizen of the country of residence). For example all naturalized Swiss citizens have a legal "Swiss origin" even though it is often not the same as their place of birth.

[note 3] Same as "Iranian-born" but includes their children born abroad.

[note 4] Iranian ancestry (i.e. second or third generation), not necessarily Iranian citizenship.

[note 5] In the period from 1961 to 2005, the United States has been the main destination of Iranian emigrants. A total of 378,995 Iranians have immigrated to the United States in that period, where the major concentrations of Iranian immigrants are California (158,613 Iran-born in 2000),[11] New York state (17,323),[11] Texas (15,581),[11] Virginia (10,889),[11] and Maryland (9,733)[11] Los Angeles Metropolitan Area was estimated to be host to approximately 114,712 Iranian immigrants,[11] earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles. In the case of the United States, the US Census Bureau's decennial census form does not offer a designation for individuals of Iranian descent. Consequently, it is estimated that only a fraction of the total number of Iranians are writing in their ancestry. The 2000 Census Bureau estimates that the Iranian-American community (including the US-born children of the Iranian foreign born) numbers around 330,000. However, studies using alternative statistical methods have estimated the actual number of Iranian Americans in the range of 691,000 to 1.2 million.[3][39]

See also [edit]

Portal icon Iran portal

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "No Operation". Presstv.com. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  2. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz (2004-03-08). "Iran: Coping With The World's Highest Rate Of Brain Drain - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY". Rferl.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Migration Information Source - Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home". Migrationinformation.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  4. ^ ANALYSIS March 8, 2012 (2012-03-08). "Faith on the Move: The Religious Affiliation of International Migrants". Pewforum.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  5. ^ Miller, Duane Alexander (January 2012). "Iranian Diaspora Christians in the American Midwest & Scotland: Historical Background, Present Realities, & Future Challenges". Global Missiology 9 (2): 1–9. Retrieved 16 November 2012. 
  6. ^ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 02/14/07[dead link]
  7. ^ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 04/04/06[dead link]
  8. ^ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 10/22/07[dead link]
  9. ^ [1][dead link]
  10. ^ a b "Iran, world, political, sport, economic news and headlines". MehrNews.com. 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Migration Information Source - Spotlight on the Iranian Foreign Born". Migrationinformation.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  12. ^ "US census" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  13. ^ "Iranian-Americans cast ballots on Iran's future - CNN.com". CNN. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
  14. ^ Millman, Joel; Audi, Tamara; Sanders, Peter (2009-06-17). "Iran's Political Crisis Fuels Expatriates' Fears, Hopes". The Wall Street Journal. 
  15. ^ Joshua Project. "Tajik, Afghan of Afghanistan Ethnic People Profile". Joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  16. ^ "UAE soldiers to learn Persian". Alarabiya.net. 2011-04-09. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  17. ^ "Sanctions on Iran unable to curb trade | Economy | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere". Gmanetwork.com. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  18. ^ Travel Video Television News - Iranians investing heavily in Dubai[dead link]
  19. ^ "''2006 Canadian Census''". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  20. ^ "SCHWERPUNKT: Iraner in Deutschland". Isoplan.de. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  21. ^ Zuwanderung und Integration. Books.google.de. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  22. ^ http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/EGM_Ittmig_Arab/P02_Kapiszewski.pdf
  23. ^ Name * (2012-07-23). "Malaysia Wishes to Add You as a Friend /". Theriskyshift.com. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  24. ^ "Fars News Agency :: Iranian, Malaysian Officials Discuss Consular, Judicial Cooperation". English.farsnews.com. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  25. ^ "Iranians feeling at home in Malaysia". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcensus/V3_table4.xls
  27. ^ Sakurai 2003, p. 41
  28. ^ "Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года". Perepis2002.ru. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  29. ^ "Ethnologue 14 report for Bahrain". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  30. ^ a b "שנתון סטטיסטי לישראל 2008 - מספר 59 פרק 2 - מספר לוח 24". Cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  31. ^ "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 
  32. ^ CBS 2009
  33. ^ "Expanded Community Profile - Australia". Australian 2011 Census data. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 11 January 2013. 
  34. ^ "2054.0 Australian Census Analytic Program: Australians' Ancestries (2001 (Corrigendum))" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  35. ^ "5. Facts and figures - Middle Eastern peoples - Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Teara.govt.nz. 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  36. ^ "Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (National Statistics Institute)". Ine.es. Retrieved 2012-12-10. 
  37. ^ "The Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras". sef.pt. Retrieved 2013-04-01. 
  38. ^ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). "Report for Iranian languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth ed.) (Dallas: SIL International). 
  39. ^ http://isg-mit.org/projects-storage/census/Factsheet.pdf

Sources [edit]

  • Sakurai, Keiko (July 2003), 『日本のムスリム社会』 [Japan's Muslim Societies], Chikuma Shobō, ISBN 4-480-06120-7 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Iranian diaspora
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