Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora
Since World War I, the Assyrian diaspora has steadily increased so that there are now more Assyrians living in western and eastern European countries (including Australia) and North America, than in the Middle East. At the turn of the century the Christian population in the Ottoman Empire had numbered about 5,000,000. When the Turks' massacres finally ended in 1923, about 20,000 Greeks, 10,000 Armenians and 30,000 Assyrians remained. The Civil War in Lebanon, the coming into power of the Islamic republic of Iran, the Ba'thist dictatorship in Iraq and the present-day unrest in Iraq pushed even more Assyrians on the roads of exile. [1]
Current number of Assyrians in all countries
Rank | Country | Centres of Assyrian population | № of Assyrians | Further info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Baghdad, Nineveh plains, Dohuk | 1,500,000 [2] | Assyrians in Iraq | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | ![]() |
Damascus qamishli al hassakeh | 700,000 [2] | Assyrians in Syria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | ![]() |
Michigan, Illinois, California | 400,000 [3] | Assyrians in the United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | ![]() |
Amman | 77,000 [4][5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | ![]() |
120,000 [6] | Assyrians in Sweden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | ![]() |
30,000 [7] | Assyrians in Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | ![]() |
70,000 [6] | Assyrians in Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | ![]() |
20,000 [8] | Assyrians in France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | ![]() |
70,000 [9] | Assyrians in Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | ![]() |
Urmia, Tehran | 50,000 [10] | Assyrians in Iran | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | ![]() |
Peristeri, Athens | 8,000 [8] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | ![]() |
15,000 [8] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | ![]() |
Windsor, Hamilton, Toronto | 23,000 [11] (2001 Census) | Assyrians in Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | ![]() |
100,000 [10] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | ![]() |
Tur Abdin, Istanbul, Hakkâri | 23,000 [10] | Assyrians in Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | ![]() |
20,000 [6] | Assyrians in the Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | ![]() |
8,000 [6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | ![]() |
15,000 [12] (2001 Census) | Assyrians in Armenia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | ![]() |
3,500[13] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | ![]() |
15,000 [14] (2002 Census) | Assyrians in Georgia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | ![]() |
3,200 [15] (2001 Census) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | ![]() |
3,000 [16] (2006 Census) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | ![]() |
10,000 [17] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | ![]() |
10,000 [18] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | ![]() |
3,000 [19] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | ![]() |
3,000 [20] | )
Historic CensusFormer Soviet UnionHistory[21]![]() Assyrians came to Russia and the Soviet Union in three main waves: The first wave was after the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, that delineated a border between Russia and Persia. Many Assyrians found themselves suddenly under Russian sovereignty and thousands of relatives crossed the border to join them. The second wave was a result of the repression and violence during and after World War I. The third wave came after World War II, when Moscow unsuccessfully tried to establish a satellite state in Iranian Kurdistan. Soviet troops withdrew in 1946, and left the Assyrians exposed to exactly the same kind of retaliation that they had suffered from the Turks 30 years earlier. Again, many Assyrians found refuge in the Soviet Union, this time mainly in the cities. From 1937 to 1959, the Assyrian population in USSR grew by 587.3%[22] Soviet power in the thirties repressed the Assyrians' religion and persecuted religious and other leaders. In recent years, the Assyrians have tended to assimilate with Armenians, but their cultural and ethnic identity, strengthened through centuries of hardships, found new expression under Glasnost. USSR Census
Russia
Armenia
GeorgiaUkraine
KazakhstanNear EastLebanonestimates on December 31, 1944, by province (Muhafazat)[41]
1932 census and further estimates
Israel, Palestine, JordanThe AmericasArgentina
Canada2001 Census: Assyrian - 6,980 United States
EuropeBelgiumAssyrians in Belgium came mostly as refugees from the Turkish towns of Midyat and Mardin in Tur Abdin, most of them are Syriac Orthodox (Süryani), some Chaldean Catholics (Keldani). Their three main settlements are in Brussels (municipalities of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode - where they've got their only elected municipal councilman, the Christian Democrat Ibrahim Erkan, originally from Turkey -, Brussels and Etterbeek), Liège and in Mechelen. Since the October 8, 2006 municipal elections they've got two more councilmen, in Etterbeek, the Liberal Sandrine Es (whose family came from Turkey) and the Christian Democrat Ibrahim Hanna (originally from Syria's Khabur region). The Christian Democrat candidate in Mechelen, Melikan Kucam, was not elected. The Flemish writer August Thiry wrote the book Mechelen aan de Tigris (Mechelen on Tigris) about the Assyrian refugees from the village of Hassana in SE Turkey, district of Silopi. Melikan Kucam was one of them. FranceThere are believed to be some 15,000, mainly concentrated in the northern French suburbs of Sarcelles, Gonnesse and Villiers-le-Bel. They are drawn from the same few villages in what is now south west Turkey. GreeceThe first migrants of Assyrians in Greece came in 1934, and settled in the areas of Makronisos (today uninhabited), Keratsini (Pireus), Egaleo and Kalamata.[50] Today, the vast majority of Assyrians live in Peristeri, a suburb of Athens, and they number about 2,000.[51] There are five Assyrian Christian marriages recorded at St. Pauls Anglican Church in Athens in 1924-25 (the transcripts can be viewed on St. Pauls Anglican Church website), thus indicating the beginning of the appearance of refugees at that time. The absence of further marriages at St. Pauls possibly indicates the arrival of a Nestorian clergyman in Athens shortly after 1925. NetherlandsThe first Assyrians came to the Netherlands in the 1970s; most of them were Western Assyrians from Turkey. Today the number of Assyrians is estimated to be between the 25,000 and 35,000 and mainly live in the east of the country, in the province of Overijssel, in such cities as Enschede, Hengelo, Almelo and Borne. SwedenIn the latter part of the 1970s, about 12,000 Syrian Orthodox Assyrians from Lebanon, Turkey and Syria immigrated to Sweden. They considered themselves persecuted for religious reasons but were never acknowledged as refugees. Those who had already lived in Sweden for a longer period were finally granted residence permit for humanitarian reasons.[52] As with other Northern European countries, there is a dividing line in Sweden between the Aramaic speaking Christians. While the vast majority consider themselves Assyrian, there is a sizeable minority who refer to themselves as Syriac (Syrianska in Swedish.) They are mostly members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, but its important to note that note all Syriac Orthodox members idenity with being Syriac only, as the majority of those who call themselves Assyrian are Syraic Orthodox as well.[53] Södertälje in Sweden is often seen as the unofficial Assyrian capital of Europe due to the city's high percentage of Assyrians and the Swedish professional football (soccer) team Assyriska, which played in the top Swedish football league (Allsvenskan) in 2005, is often viewed as a substitute national team by the diaspora and has fans worldwide. The international Suroyo TV which broadcast in the Assyrian language is also based in Sweden. Between 2005 and 2006, there was an Assyrian minister in the Swedish government, Ibrahim Baylan. PacificAustralia
New Zealand
Homeland StatisticsSyria
References
Bibliography
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