Afghan Australians

Afghan Australian

Languages
Persian (Dari) & Pashto and other languages of Afghanistan.
Religion
Islam

Afghan Australians are residents of Australia who are of Afghan ancestry.

According to the 2006 Australian census 16,751 Australians were born in Afghanistan while 19,416 claimed Afghan ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.

Afghan cameleers

The first Afghan cameleers arrived in Melbourne in June 1860, when 8 men arrived with a shipment of 24 camels for the Burke and Wills expedition. Afghans without camels are reported to have reached Australia as early as 1838 , they worked in outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s. The Afghans played a great role in establishing the Muslim faith in Australia and helped in finding a way to reach the country's unexplored interior..

Brief overview

Prior to 1979 and the war in Afghanistan, approximately 149 Afghans came to Australia for educational purposes. After 1979, over 7,000 came, escaping the communist regime at the time, and later escaping the radical Mujahideen. The Afghan Australian community has produced a sizable number of individuals notable in many fields, including law, medicine, engineering, teaching and business.

In Sydney, NSW, the largest portion of Afghans reside in the LGA's of Ryde (North Ryde, Macquarie Park, Marsfield, and Top Ryde), The Hills Shire (Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, and Kellyville), Blacktown (Glenwood, Parklea, Stanhope Gardens and Bellavista) and Sutherland Shire (Miranda). Ethnic Hazara's reside in suburbs such as Auburn and Merrylands.

There is now a great division between Afghans who have arrived between 1979 to 1999, who are considered as more liberal, educated and open minded, in contrast to those who have arrived from post 2001, who are considered more conservative and religious.

In Melbourne which is host to the second largest Afghan population in Australia the majority of Afghans live in city of Greater Dandenong and city Casey. The recent arrival of Afghan asylum seekers by boat has changed the demography of Afghan Australian community in a significant way. Once only a tiny minority, Hazaras are now more common among the Afghan Austraian community in all major cities and small country towns such as Shepparton, Mildura and Swan Hill in Victoria and Griffith in NSW.

Australian residents at the time of the 2006 Census who were born in Afghanistan arrived mostly in the 1990s (7,707) and since 2000 (8,554). Very few had arrived before 1979 (149). 9,356 (56%) had acquired Australian citizenship.

Cultural centres

In Sydney there are several Afghan Mosques to which Afghans gather, one located in North Ryde, New South Wales and another located in Blacktown, New South Wales. The Blacktown Mosque is going under reconstruction and will possibly close, due to the small Afghan population in the area. The Mosque may most likely move to Kellyville.

Education

In Sydney there are two Saturday school's for Afghan Australian youth's:

• Esteqlal Afghan Saturday School located at Castle Hill Library.
• Top Ryde Afghan Saturday School located at Ryde Public School.

Language

Various Persian dialects are spoken at home by two thirds of people (11,066) of Afghan heritage, whilst Pashto and other Iranian languages and various Turkic languages are also spoken. In recent years Hazaragi dialect has been officially recognized by NAATI.

Religion

Islam is the declared religion of most Afghan Australians, 15,961 or 95%.

See also

• Afghan (Australia) - Muslim camel drivers who worked in outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s, not all of whom came from Afghanistan
• The Afghan Cameleeers in Australia