Syrian Colombians

Syrian Colombians are Colombians of Syrian descent. Most of the ancestors of the Syrian community immigrated to Colombia from the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for economic, political and religious reasons. The first Syrian moved to Colombia in the late nineteenth century. The largest wave of Syrian migration began around 1880. This had its highest peak from 1880–1910, with a decrease in the migratory flow after 1930. This wave of migration included Syrians, as well as Lebanese and the Palestinian immigrants. After that wave, Syrians continued their establishment in the north of Colombia, mainly in the Bolivar savannah, corresponding today to the departments of Córdoba and Sucre. Córdoba was the largest recipient of Syrian,^[1] Lebanese and Palestinian migration in the entire region, estimated to have been between 50,000 and 100,000,^[2] which makes the Syrians, only behind the Lebanese, the second largest group of immigrants in Colombia since independence.^[3][4][5] All together, 3.2 million people with Arab ancestry are estimated to live in Colombia, 700,000 are Lebanese.^[6][7]

Key Information

سوريون كولومبيون (in Arabic) Sirios en Colombia (in Spanish)
Total population
700,000
Regions with significant populations
Barranquilla · Cartagena · Maicao · Montería · Lorica · Santa Marta · Sincelejo.
Languages
Spanish · Arabic · French
Religion
Mostly Roman Catholic and Muslim
Related ethnic groups
Lebanese Colombians, Other Arab Colombians
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