History
The wave of Syrian immigration to Colombia seems to have begun in the 1880s. This was perhaps its peak during the first three decades of this century and declined after 1930, but Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians continued since then settled in Colombia. Due to the limited information available, it is impossible to know exactly how many Syrians and Lebanese have immigrated into the country. It has been estimated that, during the busiest period (1880-1930), a figure between 5,000 and 10,000 could be reliable. Whatever the figure, there is no doubt that, perhaps next to the Spanish, the Syrian-Lebanese are the largest immigrant group in Colombia since independence.
Those who left their homeland in the Middle East to settle in Colombia were motivated by a variety of reasons: economic, political and religious. The selection of Colombia as a destination obeyed on random occasions and once the process starts, the weak information about the country began to receive those who already had family or friends with some experience in the migratory adventure.
The phenomenon of the Syrian-Lebanese immigration in Colombia is far from unique to the Atlantic coast. In his biographical essay on Gabriel Turbay, Gonzalo Buenahora highlighted the contribution of the Syrian economic development Bucaramanga. Chalelas, Stafis, Korgis, Chedranis, were the trade balance for half a century and their names linked to the steel industry. The establishment of the first factories of buttons and strings, and the importation of the first car that came by mule to Bucaramanga in 1912 were linked to Sino-Lebanese names. Syrian-Lebanese immigrants, and in significant numbers, were established in other cities in the region of Santander, as Ocaña, Barrancabermeja and Cucuta, as in many other towns in the country other than those of the Atlantic coast: Ibagué, Girardot, Honda, Tunja, Villavicencio, Pereira, Soatá, Neiva, Buga, Chaparral or Chinácota. After Barranquilla and Cartagena de Indias, Bogotá stood beside Cali, among cities with the largest number of Arabic-speaking representatives in Colombia in 1945. Some of these immigrants had arrived in the country in the 1890s, others arrived early this century, but a high percentage of them arrived during the 1920s and 1930s.[1]
