Arab Venezuelans

Arab Venezuelans
Total population
c. 1,600,000[1] (5-7% of the population)
Regions with significant populations
Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Ciudad Guayana, Barcelona-Puerto La Cruz, Punto Fijo, Margarita Island
Languages
Spanish, Arabic
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Islam
Druze
Related ethnic groups
Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians

Arab Venezuelans (Arabic: عرب فنزويلا‎; Spanish: Arabo-Venezolano) refers to Venezuelan citizens of Arab origin or descent. There are around 1,600,000 Venezuelans of Arab origin, mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.[1] Most Arab Venezuelans are of Syrian descent with their number between 400,000 and nearly 1 million of inhabitants,[2][3] and of Lebanese descent with their number around 341,000[4] to 500,000[5]

Migration history

Arab immigration to Venezuela started as early as the 19th and 20th centuries. They came mostly from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, and are present in significant numbers in Caracas.

Immigration of Arabs in Venezuela has influenced Venezuelan culture, in particular Arabic food and music.

In religion, the majority of Arab-Venezuelans are Christians who belong to the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. There are few Muslims.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Margolis, Mac (15 September 2013). "Abdel el-Zabayar: From Parliament to the Frontlines". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. ...Venezuela, where the estimated 1.6 million people of Arab descent...
  2. ↑ Gligorevic, Tihomir (11 September 2013). "Venezuela boast a Syrian population that nears half a million". inserbia.info. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Salloum, Habeeb (2000). "Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico". Al Jadid. 16 (30). Retrieved 18 January 2017. These newcomers scattered throughout the country and are the core of today's 400,000 Syrians living in Venezuela... [t]hey have joined the approximately 500,000 prior immigrants and their descendants, reinforcing Arab culture amongst the older Arab community which had been almost totally assimilated.
  4. ↑ "Geographical Distribution of the Lebanese Diaspora". iLoubnan. Wordpress. 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "Por amor a Venezuela: La emigración libanesa" [For the love of Venezuela: Lebanese emigration]. historico.notitarde.com (in Spanish). 9 August 1999. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
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