Lebanese Colombian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
800,000 to 3,200,000 approx. 1.6% to 6.2% of the Colombian population (2009) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Barranquilla · Cartagena · Santa Marta · Bucaramanga · Medellin · Maicao · Bogotá · Cali. | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish · Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Mostly Christian and some Muslims | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lebanese Argentines · Lebanese Brazilians · Lebanese Americans · Lebanese Canadians · Lebanese Australians · Lebanese Spaniards |
800,000 to 3,200,000 approx.
Lebanese Colombians are Colombians of Lebanese descent. Most of the Lebanese community's forebears immigrated to Colombia from the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for economic, political and religious reasons. When they were first processed in the ports of Colombia, they were classified as Turks because what is modern day Lebanon was a territory of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Lebanese immigration to Colombia has been one of the most important in migrations in South American. The first Lebanese came to the country in the late nineteenth century. There was another wave in the early twentieth century. It is estimated that over 10,000 Lebanese immigrated to Colombia from 1900 to 1930.
Many Lebanese settled in the Caribbean region of Colombia, particularly in the cities of Santa Marta, Lorica, Fundación, Aracataca, Ayapel, Calamar, Ciénaga, Cereté, Montería and Barranquilla, near the basin of the Magdalena River. The Lebanese subsequently expanded to other cities and by 1945 there were Lebanese living in Ocaña, Cúcuta, Barrancabermeja, Ibagué, Girardot, Honda, Tunja, Villavicencio, Pereira, Soatá, Neiva, Cali, Buga, Chaparral and Chinácota. The six major hubs of Lebanese population were present in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bucaramanga, Bogotá, Medellin and Cali. 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.
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Wikipedia