Afghan Australian

Afghan Australians

Total population
(Afghan Australians 19,416 (by ancestry, 2006). 16,751 (by birth, 2006).)
Languages
Dari (Persian dialect), Pashto and other languages of Afghanistan.
Religion
Islam,Christianity

Afghan Australians are Australians whose ancestors came from Afghanistan or who were born in Afghanistan. According to the 2006 Australian census 16,751 Australians were born in Afghanistan while 19,416 claimed Afghan ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.

Although Afghans without camels are reported to have reached Australia as early as 1838, in the latter part of the 19th century several thousand men from Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Kashmir, Sind, Rajasthan, Egypt, Persia, Turkey and Punjab, but collectively known as "Afghans", were recruited during initial British development of the Australian Outback, especially for the operation of camel trains in desert areas. The first Afghan cameleers arrived in Melbourne in June 1860, when three men arrived with a shipment of 24 camels for the Burke and Wills expedition. They continued to work in the arid interior of the continent from the 1860s to the 1930s, until finally being superseded by the development of railways and motorised road transport. The Afghans played an important supportive role in the exploration and economic development of the interior through carting water, food and materials to remote pastoral stations and mining settlements, as well as for the construction of the Overland Telegraph, and the Port Augusta to Alice Springs railway. They also had an important role in establishing the Muslim faith in Australia.

Prior to 1979, approximately 149 Afghans came to Australia for educational purposes. During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and the 1990s civil war, over 7,000 Afghans arrived to Australia. The Afghan Australian community has produced a sizable number of individuals notable in many fields, including law, medicine, engineering, teaching and business.

In Sydney, the largest portion of Afghan Australians reside in the LGAs of City of Ryde (North Ryde, Macquarie Park, Marsfield, and Top Ryde), The Hills Shire (Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, and Kellyville), Blacktown (Glenwood, Parklea, Stanhope Gardens and Bella Vista) and Sutherland Shire (Miranda). Ethnic Hazaras are believed to reside in suburbs such as Auburn and Merrylands.

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Wikipedia