Arab diaspora in Colombia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Arab diaspora in Colombia refers to the Arab immigrants and their offspring in the Republic of Colombia. Most of the Middle Easterners came from Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

and Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

escaping from the repression of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

and financial hardships.

Most of the Syrian-Lebanese established in the Caribbean Region of Colombia in the towns of Santa Marta

Santa Marta

Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...

, Lorica

Santa Cruz de Lorica

Santa Cruz de Lorica is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.-References:...

, Fundación

Fundación

Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, oranges, bananas, beans, sesame, sorghum, rice, tomatoes,...

, Aracataca

Aracataca

Aracataca is a municipality located in the Department of Magdalena, in Colombia's Caribbean Region. Aracataca is a river town founded in 1885. The town stands beside the river of the same name, the Aracataca river that flows from the nearby Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range into the...

, Ayapel

Ayapel

Ayapel is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.Ayapel is a Colombian municipality located in the far eastern department of Cordoba and bathed by the waters of San Jorge and Ayapel swamp....

, Calamar

Calamar

Calamar is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town is situated on the Magdalena River at the entrance of the Canal del Dique....

, Ciénaga, Cereté

Cereté

Cereté is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.-Name origin:Cereté comes from the two word indigenous words meaning Chere and te .-History:...

, Montería

Montería

Montería is a municipality and city located in Northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean, by the Sinú River. The city and region are famous for their distinct cultural heritages, which include a blend of indigenous Zenú Indians,...

and Barranquilla

Barranquilla

Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...

near the basin of the Magdalena River

Magdalena River

The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

. It later expanded to other cities and by 1945 there were Middle Easterners moving inland like Ocaña

Ocaña, Colombia

Ocaña is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Norte de Santander. Ocaña is the second largest populated center of this department. It played an important role during the Independence of Colombia from the Spanish monarchy.-History:...

, Cúcuta

Cúcuta

Cúcuta is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander, in the northeast of the country. Due to its proximity to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. The city has the constitutional category of Special District. It is located at the most active...

, Barrancabermeja

Barrancabermeja

Barrancabermeja is a city and municipality in Santander Department, in northeastern Colombia. It is located on the banks of the Magdalena River in the Middle Magdalena region, 110 km west of Bucaramanga. Founded in 1536, Barrancabermeja is home of the biggest petroleum refinery in Colombia,...

, Ibagué

Ibagué

Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...

, Girardot

Girardot

Girardot may refer to:*Girardot, Cundinamarca, a municipality in Cundinamarca, Colombia*Girardot Municipality, Aragua, Venezuela*Girardot Municipality, Cojedes, Venezuela*Girardot Argezas, a character from Namco's Soul series-People with the surname:...

, Honda

Honda, Tolima

Honda is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 26,873 as of the 2005 census. Along with Líbano, Honda is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Líbano-Honda...

, Tunja

Tunja

Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...

, Villavicencio

Villavicencio

Villavicencio is a city and municipality in Colombia, capital of the Department of Meta, with 361,058 inhabitants. The city is located at 4°08S, 73°40W, 75 km southeast of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá by the Guatiquía river...

, Pereira

Pereira, Colombia

Pereira is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It stands in the center of the western region of the country, located in a small valley that descends from a part of the western Andes mountain chain. Its strategic location in the coffee producing area makes the city an urban...

, Soatá, Neiva, Buga

Buga, Valle del Cauca

Buga formally Guadalajara de Buga is a city and municipality in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. It is famous for its Basilica del Señor de los Milagros, which houses an image of Christ called El Señor de los Milagros .-History:Guadalajara de Buga is one of the oldest cities in...

, Chaparral

Chaparral, Tolima

Chapparal is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 40,880 as of the 1993 census....

and Chinácota

Chinácota

Chinácota is a small town and municipality located in the Department of Norte de Santander in Colombia, South America. This department is located on the North-Eastern region of the country, near the border with Venezuela...

. The four major hubs of Middle Eastern population were present in Barranquilla, Cartagena

Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...

, Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

and Cali

Calì

Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...

. The number of immigrants entering the country vary from 5,000 to 10,000 in 1945. Some of these immigrants were Christian-Lebanese and others were adept to Islam.

Another large wave of immigrants came later from the Middle East in the 1940s this time establishing in the town of Maicao, La Guajira in northern Colombia. These immigrants were mostly Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

and were attracted by the thriving commerce of the town which was benefiting from the neighboring Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n oil bonanza and the usual contraband of goods that flowed through the Guajira Peninsula

Guajira Peninsula

Guajira Peninsula , is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea...

. It is estimated that Colombia has a population of 840,000 Lebanese

Lebanese people

The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....

immigrants.

See also