Croatian diaspora
Encyclopedia
Croatian diaspora refers to the Croatian
communities that have formed outside Croatia
.
Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization
, but (highest) estimates suggest that the Croatian diaspora numbers between a third and a half of the total number of Croats.
About four million Croats live in Croatia.
The largest community outside of Croatia are the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, one of the constitutive nations of that country, amounting to about 650,000.
The Croatian diaspora outside of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to close to a million elsewhere in Europe, and to about 1.5 million overseas. The largest overseas community is reported from the United States, with about 450,000 members.
In Western Europe, the largest group is found in Germany. The German census reports 228,000 Croats in Germany
as of 2006, but estimates of the total number of people with direct Croatian ancestry (including naturalized German citizens) range as high as 450,000.
, with the city being home to the largest Croatian population.
There is no precise data regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's population since the last war. The UNHCR conducted an unofficial census in 1996, but the data has not been recognized. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw the vast majority of Croats move and take up residence in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. It is estimated that there are approximately 600,000 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to 2000 data from the CIA World Factbook, Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically 14.3% Croat.
Serbia 70,602
Slovenia 35,642 (2002)
Kingdom of Montenegro 6,811 (2000)
Kingdom of Romania 6,786
Western Europe
Germany
227,510 (see Croatian German
)
Austria 150,719
Switzerland 40,484 (2006)
Early Modern France 30,000 (est)
Hungary 25,730
Italy 21,360
6,992 (2001 UK Census)
Scandinavia
Sweden 6,063
Denmark 5,400
Norway 3,909
United States 420,763 (2007)
Chile 380,000
Argentina 250,000
Australia 118,046 (2006)
Canada 110,880
Peru 88,512 (see Croatian Peruvian)
Bolivia 50,519
Brazil 45,000 (est)
South Africa 8,000
In addition to that, many Croatian Americans identify themselves as Yugoslavs
, Slavs, Dalmatia
ns, Bosnian
s, Austrians
, or Austro-Hungarians.
First Croatians in Detroit appeared around 1890, settling usually in the region of Russel. In Illinois
the Croatians started concentrating mostly around Chicago. Although it was created a bit later, the Croatian settlement in Chicago became one of the most important ones in the United States.
The settlement especially started developing after World War I and Chicago became the center of all Croatian cultural and political activities. It is calculated that there were roughly 50,000 Croats in Chicago in the 1990s, while there were altogether 100,000 Croats living in 54 additional Croatian
settlements in Illinois. There is a significant Croat population also in Indianapolis
that settled during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90's.
Pittsburgh has always had a sizeable Croatian population. The headquarters of the Croatian Fraternal Union
(CFU) - the oldest and largest Croatian organization in the United States - is located in the eastern suburb of Monroeville, PA. The CFU publishes a weekly newspaper "The Zajednicar Weekly" in both English and Croatian. Most of the Croatians in Pittsburgh originally settled in the early 1900s on the city's North Side. A neighborhood centered on East Ohio Street along the Allegheny River between Millvale and the North Shore was named Mala Jaska after an area in Croatia (northwest of Zagreb).
are an important ethnic group in Chile
; they are citizens of Chile who where either born in Europe or are Chileans of Croatian descent deriving their Croatian
ethnicity from one or both parents. Chile has one of the largest communities of ethnic Croats
outside the Balkans Peninsula
and it is one of the most significant communities in the Croatian diaspora - second only to that which is found in the United States. They are one of the main example of successful assimilation of a non Spanish-speaking European ethnic group into Chilean society. Many successful entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and prominent politicians holding the highest offices in the country have been of Croatian descent.
The Croatian community first established itself in two provinces situated in the extreme ends of Chile
: Antofagasta
, in the Atacama desert of the north and Punta Arenas in the Patagonia
n region in the south. The massive arrival of Croats in Chile began in 1864 and the migration grew steadily until 1956 – reaching a number of more than 60,000.
It is officially accepted that there are up to 380,000 Chileans of Croatian descent
(who clearly identify themselves as Chilean-Croats). Even though the number may be much higher with some demographic analysts estimating a figure of 750,000.
Argentine of Croatian descent number over 450,000.
The most successful of all the Croats in Argentina was also almost the first to arrive Nikola Mihanović came to Montevideo
, Uruguay
in 1867. Having settled in Buenos Aires
, by 1909 Mihanović owned 350 vessels of one kind or another, including 82 steamers. By 1918, he employed 5,000 people, mostly from his native Dalmatia
which was then under Austro-Hungarian and Italian rule. Mihanović by himself was thus a major factor in building up a Croat community which remains primarily Dalmatian to this day.
The second wave of Croat immigration was far more numerous, totalling 15,000 by 1939. Mostly peasants, these immigrants fanned out to work the land in Buenos Aires province
, Santa Fe
, Chaco
, and Patagonia
. This wave was accompanied by a numerous clergy to attend their spiritual needs, especially Franciscans.
If the first two waves had been primarily economic, the third wave after the Second World War was eminently political. Some 20,000 Croatian political refugees came to Argentina, and most became construction workers on Peron's public works projects until they started to pick up some Spanish.
has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006 118,051 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having Croatian ancestor.
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
communities that have formed outside Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
, but (highest) estimates suggest that the Croatian diaspora numbers between a third and a half of the total number of Croats.
About four million Croats live in Croatia.
The largest community outside of Croatia are the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina form one of the three constitutive nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.There is no precise data regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's population since the last war. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw the vast majority of Croats move and take...
, one of the constitutive nations of that country, amounting to about 650,000.
The Croatian diaspora outside of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to close to a million elsewhere in Europe, and to about 1.5 million overseas. The largest overseas community is reported from the United States, with about 450,000 members.
In Western Europe, the largest group is found in Germany. The German census reports 228,000 Croats in Germany
Croatian German
- Demographics :According to the German Federal Statistical Office from Wiesbaden in year 2007 in Germany lived 225,309 Croatian citizens. According to data from church institutions there are about 310,000 to 350,000 Croatians living in Germany....
as of 2006, but estimates of the total number of people with direct Croatian ancestry (including naturalized German citizens) range as high as 450,000.
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croats form one of the three constitutive nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are frequently referred to as Bosnian Croats, but since the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina the number of Herzegovinian Croats exceeds the number in Bosnia. The Croats maintain an unofficial capital in MostarMostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
, with the city being home to the largest Croatian population.
There is no precise data regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's population since the last war. The UNHCR conducted an unofficial census in 1996, but the data has not been recognized. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw the vast majority of Croats move and take up residence in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two political entities that compose the sovereign country of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The two entities are delineated by the Inter-Entity Boundary Line...
. It is estimated that there are approximately 600,000 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to 2000 data from the CIA World Factbook, Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically 14.3% Croat.
Europe
Balkans Serbia 70,602 Slovenia 35,642 (2002) Kingdom of Montenegro 6,811 (2000) Kingdom of Romania 6,786Western Europe
Germany227,510 (see Croatian German
Croatian German
- Demographics :According to the German Federal Statistical Office from Wiesbaden in year 2007 in Germany lived 225,309 Croatian citizens. According to data from church institutions there are about 310,000 to 350,000 Croatians living in Germany....
)
Austria 150,719 Switzerland 40,484 (2006) Early Modern France 30,000 (est) Hungary 25,730 Italy 21,3606,992 (2001 UK Census)
Scandinavia
Sweden 6,063 Denmark 5,400 Norway 3,909Overseas
United States 420,763 (2007) Chile 380,000 Argentina 250,000 Australia 118,046 (2006) Canada 110,880 Peru 88,512 (see Croatian Peruvian) Bolivia 50,519 Brazil 45,000 (est) South Africa 8,000United States
According to the 2005 US census, there are 401,208 Americans of full or partial Croatian descent.In addition to that, many Croatian Americans identify themselves as Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
, Slavs, Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
ns, Bosnian
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
s, Austrians
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
, or Austro-Hungarians.
First Croatians in Detroit appeared around 1890, settling usually in the region of Russel. In Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
the Croatians started concentrating mostly around Chicago. Although it was created a bit later, the Croatian settlement in Chicago became one of the most important ones in the United States.
The settlement especially started developing after World War I and Chicago became the center of all Croatian cultural and political activities. It is calculated that there were roughly 50,000 Croats in Chicago in the 1990s, while there were altogether 100,000 Croats living in 54 additional Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
settlements in Illinois. There is a significant Croat population also in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
that settled during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90's.
Pittsburgh has always had a sizeable Croatian population. The headquarters of the Croatian Fraternal Union
Croatian Fraternal Union
The Croatian Fraternal Union , the oldest and largest Croatian organization in North America, is a fraternal benefit society of the Croatian diaspora based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....
(CFU) - the oldest and largest Croatian organization in the United States - is located in the eastern suburb of Monroeville, PA. The CFU publishes a weekly newspaper "The Zajednicar Weekly" in both English and Croatian. Most of the Croatians in Pittsburgh originally settled in the early 1900s on the city's North Side. A neighborhood centered on East Ohio Street along the Allegheny River between Millvale and the North Shore was named Mala Jaska after an area in Croatia (northwest of Zagreb).
Chile
CroatsCroats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
are an important ethnic group in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
; they are citizens of Chile who where either born in Europe or are Chileans of Croatian descent deriving their Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
ethnicity from one or both parents. Chile has one of the largest communities of ethnic Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
outside the Balkans Peninsula
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and it is one of the most significant communities in the Croatian diaspora - second only to that which is found in the United States. They are one of the main example of successful assimilation of a non Spanish-speaking European ethnic group into Chilean society. Many successful entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and prominent politicians holding the highest offices in the country have been of Croatian descent.
The Croatian community first established itself in two provinces situated in the extreme ends of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
: Antofagasta
Antofagasta
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...
, in the Atacama desert of the north and Punta Arenas in the Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
n region in the south. The massive arrival of Croats in Chile began in 1864 and the migration grew steadily until 1956 – reaching a number of more than 60,000.
It is officially accepted that there are up to 380,000 Chileans of Croatian descent
Croatian Chilean
Chileno-croatas are an important ethnic group in Chile; they are citizens of Chile who were either born in Europe or are Chileans of Croatian descent deriving their Croatian ethnicity from one or both parents...
(who clearly identify themselves as Chilean-Croats). Even though the number may be much higher with some demographic analysts estimating a figure of 750,000.
Argentina
The most successful of all the Croats in Argentina was also almost the first to arrive Nikola Mihanović came to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in 1867. Having settled in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, by 1909 Mihanović owned 350 vessels of one kind or another, including 82 steamers. By 1918, he employed 5,000 people, mostly from his native Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
which was then under Austro-Hungarian and Italian rule. Mihanović by himself was thus a major factor in building up a Croat community which remains primarily Dalmatian to this day.
The second wave of Croat immigration was far more numerous, totalling 15,000 by 1939. Mostly peasants, these immigrants fanned out to work the land in Buenos Aires province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Chaco
Chaco Province
Chaco is an Argentine province located in the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River opposite the city of Corrientes...
, and Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. This wave was accompanied by a numerous clergy to attend their spiritual needs, especially Franciscans.
If the first two waves had been primarily economic, the third wave after the Second World War was eminently political. Some 20,000 Croatian political refugees came to Argentina, and most became construction workers on Peron's public works projects until they started to pick up some Spanish.
Australia and New Zealand
CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006 118,051 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having Croatian ancestor.
External links
- Croatian Heritage Foundation Hrvatska matica iseljenika (in Croat, English and Spanish)
- History of the Dalmatian community from Croatia in New Zealand
- Croatian Academic Union Germany Hrvatski akademski savez: Network of students and academics in Germany who are Croatians or of Croatian descent