Monday, January 18, 2010

More Lebanese in Brazil than in Lebanon

Interesting reading on the Arab diaspora. I did not know Arabs migrated to Haiti! Also I did not know there are such large numbers of Levantine Arabs in Brazil!

'The Americas have long been a destination for Arab migration, with Arabs arriving in some countries at least as early as the nineteenth century, but even as early as 1492 with several Moors among Christopher Columbus' crew . The largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East is in Brazil, which has nearly 10 million Brazilians of Arab ancestry[7]. Of these 10 million Arabs, 7 million are of Lebanese ancestry[8], making Brazil's population of Lebanese greater than that of Lebanon. Most other Brazilians of Arab descent are mainly Syrian. There are also large Arab communities in Mexico (about 400,000 Mexicans of Lebanese descent), Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Ecuador, and Venezuela.[9] Palestinians cluster in Chile and Central America, particularly El Salvador and Honduras (between 150,000 and 200,000).[10] The 500,000 strong Palestinian community in Chile[11][12] is the fourth largest in the world after those in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. Arab Haitians (in which a large number live in the capital) are more often than not, concentrated in financial areas where the majority of them establish businesses. In the United States there are around 3.5 million people of Arab ancestry. Most Arabs of the Americas are of either Lebanese, Syrian, or Palestinian ancestry and are mostly Christian, with sizeable minorities of Jews and Muslims, as well.[13].'

2 comments :

Unknown said...

Brazil also has the most japanese outside of japan, the most italians outside of italy, and has the greates german industrial city in the world, because there are more german industries in São Paulo then in any german cit....hard to believe, isn`t it?

Anonymous said...

And... Brazil also has the largest black population outside of Africa. If you are Brazilian you know it - this mixture is what makes our country the most adorable in the world.
About Arabs, the majority of Arab people in Brazil are concentrated in Sao Paulo, but there is also a large concentration of them in Iguassu Falls (near the city where I live - in the border between Brazil and Paraguay). I use to work for a Lebanese, he was born in Lebanon but his family migrated to Brazil just after he was born. Also, I have a friend that she married a Lebanese from Sao Paulo, they have a son called "Hassan" a proper Arabic name.