Ethnic groups in Syria

Arabs represent the major ethnicity in Syria, in addition to the presence of several, much smaller ethnic groups.

Ethno-religious makeup of Syria, 1935.
Map from La cartothèque de l'Ifpo (Institut français du Proche-Orient)
See also: Languages of Syria and Religion in Syria

Ethnicity, religion and national/ideological identities

Ethnicity and religion are intertwined in Syria as in other countries in the region, but there are also nondenominational, supraethnic and suprareligious political identities, like Syrian nationalism.

Counting the ethnic or religious groups

Since the 1960 census there has been no counting of Syrians by religion, and there has never been any official counting by ethnicity or language. In the 1943 and 1953 censuses the various denominations were counted separately, e.g. for every Christian denomination. In 1960 Syrian Christians were counted as a whole but Muslims were still counted separately between Sunnis and Alawis.[1][2][3]

Ethnic and religious groups

The majority of Syrians speak Arabic except for a minority of Aramaic speakers and Syrian Kurds, who altogether form 5-10% of the population. Syrian Arab Sunni Muslims form ~70-75% of the populace, Christians altogether around 10%, Alawites at less than 10%, and the remaining ~5-10% consist of minor ethnoreligious groups including the Druze, Isma'ilis, and Twelver Shiite Muslims. However, these percentages are only indicative.

Arabs

The majority of Syrian Arabs speak a variety of dialects belonging to Levantine Arabic. Arab tribes and clans of Bedouin descent are mainly concentrated in the governorates of al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and eastern Aleppo, forming roughly 20 to 30% of the total population and speaking a dialect related to Bedouin and Najdi Arabic. In Deir ez-Zor a dialect of North Mesopotamian Arabic is also spoken, reminiscent of that of medieval Iraq prior the Mongol invasions in 1258.[4] In the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, Western Aramaic is spoken in Jubb'adin, Maaloula and Bakhah. The majority of the inhabitants are bilingual and speak Arabic as a first or second language.

  • Arab minority groups
    • Arab Christians (Greek-Orthodox, Greek-Catholics, Maronites and a part of the Syrian Catholics, some espouse a Syriac-Aramean identity)
    • Druze
    • Sunni Muslim and Christian Palestinians
    • Arab Twelver Shias
    • Arab Ismailis

Non-Arabs

Syrian Kurds form 5 to 10% of the Syrian population, the largest non-Arab minority. Other non-Arabic-speaking Muslim groups include Syrian Turkmen, who had settled Syria in Mamluk and Ottoman times, Syrian Circassians and Syrian Chechens who settled in the 19th century, and Greek Muslims who were resettled in Syria following the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Assyrians in Qamishli form a small minority and mainly speak Eastern Aramaic dialects.

See also

References
  1. Hourani, Albert Habib (1947). Minorities in the Arab World. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 76.
  2. (in French) Etienne de Vaumas, "La population de la Syrie", Annales de géographie, Année 1955, Vol. 64, n° 341, p.74
  3. (in French) Mouna Liliane Samman, La population de la Syrie: étude géo-démographique, IRD Editions, Paris, 1978, ISBN 9782709905008 table p.9
  4. Holes, Clive (2006). Ammon, Ulrich; Dittmar, Norbert; Mattheier, Klaus J.; Trudgill, Peter (eds.). "The Arabian Peninsula and Iraq/Die arabische Halbinsel und der Irak". Sociolinguistics / Soziolinguistik, Part 3. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter: 1937. doi:10.1515/9783110184181.3.9.1930. ISBN 978-3-11-019987-1.
  5. "Syrian Alawites, referred to by AKP officials as Nusayris — a derogatory term not accepted by most Alevis in Turkey or Alawites in Syria — indeed can briefly be explained as follows. Some are Turkmen. They speak Turkish (...)" cf. Pinar Tremblay, "Syrian Alawites hope for change in Turkey", Al-Monitor, November 15, 2013
  6. Dzutsati, Valery (2013). "First Ethnic Ossetian Refugees from Syria Arrive in North Ossetia". Eurasia Daily Monitor. 10 (65).
  7. Izvestia, Yuri Matsarsky (2012). "Syrian Ossetians seek to return to Russia". Russia Beyond.
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