Arab Venezuelans

Arab Venezuelans (Arabic: عرب فنزويلا; Spanish: Árabe-Venezolano) refers to Venezuelan citizens of Arab origin or descent. There are around 1,600,000 Venezuelans of Arab origin, mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.[1] Most Arab Venezuelans are of Syrian descent with their number between 400,000 and 1 million inhabitants,[2][3] and Lebanese descent with their number between 341,000[4] and 500,000.[5]

Arab Venezuelans
Total population
c. 1,600,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Ciudad Guayana, Barcelona-Puerto La Cruz, Punto Fijo, Margarita Island
Languages
Spanish, Arabic, English
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Eastern Catholicism (Maronites)
Eastern Orthodoxy
Islam
Druze
Related ethnic groups
Arab Colombians, Arab Argentines, Arab Mexicans, Arab Brazilians, Arab diaspora, Arab Christians, Arab Muslims, Druze, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, other Arabs

Migration history

Arab immigration to Venezuela started as early as the 19th and 20th centuries. They came mostly from the Ottoman provinces of Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, and are present in significant numbers in Caracas.

Immigration of Arabs in Venezuela has influenced Venezuelan culture, in particular Arabic food and music.

In religion, the majority of Arab-Venezuelans are Christians who belong to the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. There are few Muslims.

According to the Venezuelan Institute of Statistics, about one million Venezuelans have Syrian origins and more than 20,000 Venezuelans are registered in the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus.[6] Other sources stated that there is around 60,000 Syrian-Venezuelans living in Syria.[7] More than 200,000 people from the Sweida area carry Venezuelan citizenship and most are members of Syria's Druze sect, who immigrated to Venezuela in the past century.[8] In 2021 The largest Druze communities outside the Middle East are in Venezuela (60,000) and in the United States (50,000).[9]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. Margolis, Mac (15 September 2013). "Abdel el-Zabayar: From Parliament to the Frontlines". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. ...Venezuela, where the estimated 1.6 million people of Arab descent...
  2. Gligorevic, Tihomir (11 September 2013). "Venezuela boast a Syrian population that nears half a million". inserbia.info. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. Salloum, Habeeb (2000). "Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico". Al Jadid. 16 (30). Retrieved 18 January 2017. These newcomers scattered throughout the country and are the core of today's 400,000 Syrians living in Venezuela... [t]hey have joined the approximately 500,000 prior immigrants and their descendants, reinforcing Arab culture amongst the older Arab community which had been almost totally assimilated.
  4. "Geographical Distribution of the Lebanese Diaspora". iLoubnan. Wordpress. 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  5. "Por amor a Venezuela: La emigración libanesa" [For the love of Venezuela: Lebanese emigration]. historico.notitarde.com (in Spanish). 9 August 1999. Archived from the original on 14 July 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  6. Gomez, Diego (Feb 2012). "EL LEVANTE Y AMÉRICA LATINA. UNA BITÁCORA DE LATINOAMÉRICA EN SIRIA, LÍBANO, JORDANIA Y PALESTINA". distintaslatitudes.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2017. de acuerdo con el Instituto de Estadística de Venezuela, cerca de un millón de venezolanos tienen orígenes sirios y más de 20 mil venezolanos están registrados en el catastro del consulado sudamericano en Damasco.
  7. Vasquez, Fidel (October 2010). "Venezuela afianza relaciones con Siria" (in Spanish). Aristobulo Isturiz PSUV. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017. en Siria residen más de 60 mil ciudadanos sirio-venezolanos.
  8. "Chavez tells Israelis to disobey 'genocidal' govt". 26 September News. Sep 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2017. More than 200,000 people from the Sweida area carry Venezuelan citizenship and most are members of Syria's Druse sect, who immigrated to Venezuela in the past century.
  9. "Sending relief--and a message of inclusion and love—to our Druze sisters and brothers". Los Angeles Times. 6 April 2021.
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