Armenian diaspora
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The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. However, the modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of World War I, when the genocide which was committed by the Ottoman Empire forced Armenians who were living in their homeland to flee from it or risk being killed.[1][2] Another wave of emigration started during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[3]
The
Terminology
In Armenian, the diaspora is referred to as spyurk (pronounced
History
The Armenian diaspora has been present for over 1,700 years.[9] The modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed after World War I as a result of the Armenian genocide. According to Randall Hansen, "Both in the past and today, the Armenian communities around the world have developed in significantly different ways within the constraints and opportunities found in varied host cultures and countries."[1]
In the fourth century, Armenian communities already existed outside
The Armenian diaspora is divided into two communities – those communities from Ottoman Armenia (or Western Armenia) and those communities which are from the former Soviet Union, independent Armenia and Iran (or Eastern Armenia).
Before 1870, 60 Armenian immigrants settled in New England.[14] Armenian immigration rose to 1,500 by the end of the 1880s, and rose to 2,500 in the mid-1890s due to massacres caused by the Ottoman Empire. Armenians who immigrated to the United States before WWI were primarily from Asia Minor and settled on the East Coast.[14]
The Armenian diaspora grew considerably both during and after the First World War due to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.[15] In the year 1910, over 5,500 Armenians immigrated to the United States, and by 1913, 9,355 more Armenians entered the North American borders.[14] As World War I approached, the rate of Armenian immigration rose to about 60,000. In 1920 and until the Immigration Act of 1924, 30,771 Armenians came to the United States; the immigrants were predominantly widowed women, children, and orphans.[14] Although many Armenians perished during the Armenian genocide, some of the Armenians who managed to escape, established themselves in various parts of the world.
By 1966, around 40 years after the start of the Armenian genocide, 2 million Armenians still lived in Armenia, while 330,000 Armenians lived in Russia, and 450,000 Armenians lived in the United States and Canada.[16]
In the United States, the rate of immigration increased after the Immigration Act was passed in 1965.[14] The outbreak of the civil War in Lebanon in 1975 and the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in Iran during 1978 were factors which pushed Armenians to immigrate. The 1980 U.S. Census reported that 90 percent of the immigration to the United States was undertaken by Iranian-Armenians during the years from 1975 and 1980.[14]
Distribution
Less than one third of the world's Armenian population lives in Armenia. Their pre-
By 2000, there were 7,580,000 Armenians living abroad in total.[16]
See also
- Armenia–Azerbaijan relations
- Armenia–European Union relations
- Armenia–Russia relations
- Armenia–Turkey relations
- Armenia–United States relations
- Foreign relations of Armenia
- Largest Armenian diaspora communities
- List of diasporas
- Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs
- Visa requirements for Armenian citizens
- White genocide (Armenians)
Sources
- Ayvazyan, Hovhannes (2003). Հայ Սփյուռք հանրագիտարան [Encyclopedia of Armenian Diaspora] (in Armenian). Vol. 1. Yerevan: Armenian Encyclopedia publishing. ISBN 5-89700-020-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9.
References
- ^ a b Hansen, Randall. Immigration and asylum: from 1900 to the present. p. 13.
- ISBN 978-0-7377-7319-4.
- ^ "Diaspora - Armenian Diaspora Communities". diaspora.gov.am. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
- ISBN 978-0-520-25359-9.
- ISBN 978-1-109-12012-7.
- Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971–1979). Hayerēn Armatakan Baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words]. Vol. 1. Yerevan: Yerevan University Press. p. 505.
- ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-507081-1.
- ISBN 9780203004937.
- ^ ISBN 0-306-48321-1.
- ISBN 978-94-012-0380-7.
- ^ Baser, Bahar; Swain, Ashok (2009). "Diaspora Design Versus Homeland Realities: Case Study of Armenian Diaspora". Caucasian Review of International Affairs: 57.
- ^ "Minister denies calling Armenians 'Diaspora representatives' in Istanbul". www.tert.am. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ OCLC 24538802.
- ]
- ^ a b Cohen, Robin (2010). Global Diasporas: An Introduction. Routledge. pp. 48–63.
- ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
Currently, only one-sixth of that land [ancestral territory] is inhabited by Armenians, due first to variously coerced emigrations and finally to the genocide of the Armenian inhabitants of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1915.
External links
- Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs
- Ovenk.com, Armenian Diaspora Memory and Innovation
- The Armenian Diaspora Today: Anthropological Perspectives. Articles in the Caucasus Anallytical Digest No. 29