Immigration to Colombia

Immigration to Colombia during the early 19th and late 20th Century, is what makes it one of the most diverse countries in the world, above other countries in the Latin region. Colombia inherited from the Spanish Empire harsh rules against immigration, first in the Viceroyalty of New Granada and later in the Colombian Republic. The Constituent Assembly of Colombia and the subsequent reforms to the national constitution were much more open to the immigrants and the economic aperture. However citizenship through naturalization of foreigners, with the exception of those children of Colombians born abroad, is still difficult to acquire because 'Jus soli' law is not allowed by the government, and only 'Jus sanguinis' law is accepted. Immigration in Colombia is managed by the "Migración Colombia" agency.

Colombia is experiencing large waves of immigration from other Latin American countries, Europe, East Asia, and North America over the past five years. due to improvements in quality of life, security, and economic opportunities.

European immigration in Colombia began in 1510 with the colonization of San Sebastián de Urabá. In 1526, settlers founded Santa Marta, the oldest Spanish city still in existence in Colombia. Many Spaniards began their explorations searching for gold, while others Spaniards established themselves as leaders of the native social organizations, teaching natives the Christian faith and the ways of their civilization. Catholic priests would provide education for Native Americans that otherwise was unavailable. Within 100 years after the first Spanish settlement, nearly 95 percent of all Native Americans in Colombia had died. The majority of the deaths of Native Americans were the cause of diseases such as measles and smallpox, which were spread by European settlers.

European (Spanish and French colonist) settlement focused mainly in the Andean highlands and Lebanese for the Caribbean coast, but little European settlement took place in the Chocó department of the Pacific coast and the Amazonian plains. Out of all Spanish nationalities, the Castilians and the Basques were the most represented. Over time, Europeans intermarried often with the Amerindian peoples (i.e. the Chibchas), and to produce a mixed-race population which are the majority of people in Colombia today. ^{[citation needed]}

Colombia was one of the early focus of Basque immigration. Between 1540 and 1559, 8.9 percent of the residents of Colombia were of Basque origin. It has been suggested that the present-day incidence of business entrepreneurship in the Antioquia Department is attributable to the Basque immigration and Basque character traits. Few Colombians of distant Basque descent are aware of their Basque ethnic heritage. In Bogotá, there is a small colony of thirty to forty families who emigrated as a consequence of the Spanish Civil War or because of different opportunities. Basque priests were the ones that introduced handball into Colombia. Basque immigrants in Colombia were devoted to teaching and public administration. In the first years of the Andean multinational company, Basque sailors navigated as captains and pilots on the majority of the ships until the country was able to train its own crews. In December 1941 the United States government estimated that there were 10,000 Germans living in Colombia. There were some Nazi agitators in Colombia, such as Barranquilla businessman Emil Prufurt. Colombia invited Germans who were on the U.S. blacklist to leave. However, most German inhabitants arrived in the late 19th century as farmers and professionals. One such entrepreneur was Leo Siegfried Kopp, the founder of the brewery Bavaria. SCADTA, a Colombian-German air transport corporation which was established by German expatriates in 1919, was the first commercial airline in the western hemisphere.

Many Colombians have origins in the Western Asian countries of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine, It is estimated that Arab Colombians represent 3.2 million people. Many moved to Colombia to escape the repression of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and/or financial hardships. When they were first processed in Colombia's ports, they were classified as "Turks" or "Turcos" in Spanish. It is estimated that Colombia has a Lebanese population of 700,000 direct descendants and 1,500,000 who have partial ancestry. Meanwhile, the Palestine population is estimated between 100,000 and 120,000. Most Syrian-Lebanese immigrants established themselves in the Caribbean Region of Colombia in the towns of Santa Marta, Santa Cruz de Lorica, Fundación, Aracataca, Ayapel, Calamar, Ciénaga, Cereté, Montería, Cartagena and Barranquilla near the basin of the Magdalena River, in La Guajira Department, notably in Maicao and in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in but also large populations in the interior of the country such as Bogotá and Cali. Many Arab-Colombians adapted their names and surnames to the Spanish language to assimilate more quickly in their communities. Some Colombian surnames of Arab origin include: Guerra (originally Harb), Cure (Originally Khoury) Domínguez (Ñeca), Matuk(Originally Maatouk), Durán (Dahir), Lara (Labdah), Cristo (Saliba), among other surnames.

Consequently, there were other immigrants from the Western Asia, including a number of Armenian, Turkish, Georgian and Cypriot immigrants who arrived in the country during the early 20th century.

The Eastern Asian communities in Colombia were not very numerous compared to Brazil or Peru, but still some groups of thousands of migrants arrived from the 20th century with the Japanese and Koreans until the 21st century with the Chinese. It is estimated that the first groups of Asian immigrants arrived in Buenaventura and Barranquilla between 1910-1940 Many Chinese have immigrated to Colombia in recent decades.