Greek diaspora

Map showing the countries with the largest Greek population around the world.

The Greek diaspora or Hellenic diaspora, also known as Omogenia^[1][2] (Caucasus (Caucasus Greeks). Members of the diaspora can be identified as those who themselves, or whose ancestors, migrated from the Greek homelands.^[3]

History

Ancient times

A map showing the Greek territories and colonies during the Archaic (800 BC – 480 BC) period.

In ancient times, the trading and colonising activities of the Greek tribes from the Balkans and Asia Minor spread people of Greek culture, religion and language around the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins, establishing Greek city states in Sicily, southern Italy, northern Libya, eastern Spain, the south of France, and the Black Sea coasts. Greeks founded more than 400 colonies.^[4] Alexander the Great's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire marked the beginning of the Hellenistic period, which was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization in Asia and Africa, with Greek ruling classes established in Egypt, southwest Asia and northwest India.^[5]

Many Greeks migrated to the new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as far away as what are now Uzbekistan, the northern Indian subcontinent (including modern-day Pakistan),^[6] and Kuwait.^[7] The Hellenistic cities of Seleucia, Antioch and Alexandria were among the largest cities in the world during Hellenistic and Roman times.^[8] Under the Roman Empire, movement of people spread Greeks across the Empire and in the eastern territories Greek became the lingua franca rather than Latin. The Roman Empire became Christianized in the fourth century AD, and in the late Byzantine period, practice of the Greek Orthodox form of Christianity became a defining hallmark of Greek identity.^[9]

Middle Ages

In the seventh century, Emperor Heraclius adopted Medieval Greek as the official language of the Byzantine Empire. Greeks continued to live around the Levant, Mediterranean and Black Sea maintaining a Greek identity amongst local populations as traders, officials and settlers. Soon after, the Arab-Islamic Caliphate conquered the Levant, Egypt, North Africa and Sicily from the Byzantine Greeks during the Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Greek populations generally remained in these areas of the Caliphate and helped translate ancient Greek works into Arabic, thus contributing to early Islamic philosophy and science in medieval Islam, which in turn contributed to Byzantine science. Members of the Greek diaspora living under Islamic rule occasionally converted to Islam, most notably Al-Khazini in the 12th century.

Fall of Byzantium and exodus to Italy

A street of Cargèse (Karyes) in Corsica, which was founded by Maniots refugees, with the Greek church in the background.

After the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars, which resulted in the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Ottoman Empire's conquest of Greek lands, many Greeks fled Constantinople and found refuge in Italy, bringing with them many ancient Greek writings that had been lost in the West. These helped contribute to the European Renaissance. Most of these Greeks settled in Venice, Florence and Rome.

Modern times

View of the Greek Orthodox church of Vienna.

Ottoman Empire

Greeks were spread through many provinces of the Ottoman Empire and took a major role in its economic life, particularly through the Phanariots who emerged as a class of moneyed ethnically Greek merchants (they commonly claimed noble Byzantine descent) in the latter half of the 16th century and went on to exercise great influence in the administration in the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains in the 18th century - some of them settling in the territory of the present-day Romania and considerably influencing its political and cultural life.

19th century

During and after the Greek War of Independence, Greeks of the diaspora were important in establishing the fledgling state, raising funds and awareness abroad. Greek merchant families already had contacts in other countries and during the disturbances many set up home around the Mediterranean (notably Marseilles in France, Livorno, Calabria and Bari in Italy and Alexandria in Egypt), Russia (Odessa and St Petersburg), and Britain (London and Liverpool) from where they traded, typically in textiles and grain. Businesses frequently comprised the whole extended family, and with them they brought schools teaching Greek and the Greek Orthodox Church.^[10] As markets changed and they became more established, some families grew their operations to become shippers, financed through the local Greek community, notably with the aid of the Ralli or Vagliano Brothers. With economic success the diaspora expanded further across the Levant, North Africa, India and the USA.^[11]

After the Treaty of Constantinople the political situation stabilised somewhat, and some of the displaced families moved back to the newly independent country to become key figures in cultural, educational and political life, especially in Athens. Finance and assistance from overseas were channelled through these family ties, and helped provide institutions such as the National Library, and sent relief after natural disasters.

20th century

In the 20th century, many Greeks left the traditional homelands for economic reasons resulting in large migrations from Armenia, Italy, Russia, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa, especially after World War II (1939–45), the Greek Civil War (1946–49) and the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974.^[3]

After World War I most Greeks living in the territory of modern Turkey were forced or coerced into leaving their homes as part of the population exchange programs between Turkey and Greece. Many came to modern Greece, but The Russian Empire (later USSR) was also a major destination.

After the Greek Civil War many communist Greeks and their families were forced to flee to neighboring Yugoslavia and the Soviet dominated states of Eastern Europe, especially the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Hungary even founded a whole new village, Beloiannisz for Greek refugees, while a large concentration of such Greeks were resettled in the former Sudeten German region of northern Czechoslovakia centred around Krnov (Jegendorff).

Another country to admit Greeks in large numbers was Sweden, where today over 15,000 Greek-Swedish descendants live (see Greeks in Sweden). While many immigrants returned later, these countries still have numerous first and second generation Greeks who maintain their traditions.^[3]

The Arab nationalism of President Nasser of Egypt led to the expulsion of a large Greek population from that country in the 1950s. Until that point Alexandria had been an important centre of Greek culture since antiquity, with the business life of the city dominated by Greeks.

With the

Greek diaspora Traditional areas of Greek settlement Albania Bulgaria Cyprus Egypt France Georgia Greece Italy Republic of Macedonia Malta Moldova Romania Russia Serbia Spain Turkey Ukraine Map of countries with the largest Greek communities Western and Central Europe Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Germany Hungary Netherlands Iceland Norway Poland Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Former Soviet Union Armenia Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Asia Israel Lebanon Philippines Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Sub-Saharan Africa D.R. Congo Ethiopia South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe Americas Argentina Bahamas Brazil Canada Chile Mexico United States Uruguay Oceania Australia New Zealand

• General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad
• Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs

External links

References

• Antiochian Greeks
• Cappadocian Greek
• Caucasus Greeks
• Chian diaspora
• Church of Greece
• Cypriot Orthodox Church
• Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
• Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• Grecheskaya Operatsiya
• Greek Australian
• Greek American
• Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
• Greek Canadians
• Greek colonies
• Greek Muslims
• Greek Mexican
• Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
• Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
• Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
• Greek-Calabrian dialect
• Greeks
• Greeks in France
• Greeks in Great Britain
• Greeks in New Zealand
• Greeks in the Netherlands
• Griko language
• Griko people
• Hellenistic civilization
• List of Greek Americans
• Magna Graecia
• Orthodox Church in America
• Pontic Greeks
• SAE - World Council of Hellenes Abroad

See also

Notable people of the Greek diaspora (including also of Greek ancestry):

Notable Greeks of the diaspora

List of countries and territories by Greek population

Rank	Country/territory	Official data	Estimations	Article
1	United States	70061280777000000001,280,777 (2011 ACS est.)[19]	7006300000000000000 3,000,000[20]	Greek American
2	Cyprus	7005838897000000000838,897 (2011 census)[21]	1,150,000[22]	Greek Cypriots
3	Australia	505,784[23]	700,000[24]	Greek Australians
4	United Kingdom	700431000000000000031,000 (2011, Greek-born)[25]	400,000[26]	Greek Britons
5	Germany	7005296307000000000296,307 (2011, Greek citizens)[27]	320,000,[28] 370,000[24]	Greeks in Germany
6	Canada	7005242685000000000242,685 (2006 census)[29]	72,000[24]	Greek Canadians
7	Albania	700424243000000000024,243 Greek citizenship holders - excluding indigenous Greek minority (2011 census)[30]	590,000 to 690,000[31]	Greeks in Albania
8	South Africa	N/A	50,000-60,000[32] 120,000[24][33]	Greeks in South Africa
9	Russia	700497827000000000097,827 (2002 census)[34]		Greeks in Russia and Caucasus Greeks
10	Ukraine	700491500000000000091,500 (2001 census)[35]		Greeks in Ukraine
11	Chile	70038500000000000008,500 (2012 census)	90,000-120,000[36] in Santiago and Antofagasta	Greeks in Chile
12	Brazil	N/A	25,000[37] – 30,000[38] 50,000 in Sao Paulo[39]	Greeks in Brazil
13	France	70035747000000000005,747 (2005, Greek citizens)[27]	35,000[40]	Greeks in France
14	Argentina	70032196000000000002,196 (2001, born in Greece)[41]	35,000,[42] 50,000[43]	Greeks in Argentina
15	Italy	70037250000000000007,250 (2011, Greek citizens)[27]	20,000,[24] 30,000[44]	Greeks in Italy
16	Mexico	N/A	25,000 [45]	Greek Mexican
17	Belgium	700414799000000000014,799 (2011, Greek citizens)[27]		Greeks in Belgium
18	Georgia	700415166000000000015,166 (2002 census)[46]		Caucasus Greeks
19	Serbia	7002725000000000000725 (2011 census)[47]	15,000[48]	Greeks in Serbia
20	Kazakhstan	700412703000000000012,703 (1999 census)[49]		Greeks in Kazakhstan
21	Sweden	70034824000000000004,824 (2011, Greek citizens)[27]	12,000–15,000[50]	Greeks in Sweden
22	Uzbekistan	700410453000000000010,453 (1989 census)[51]	9,500 [52]	Greeks in Uzbekistan
23	Switzerland	70037014000000000007,014 (2010, Greek citizens)[53]	8,340,[24] 11,000[54]	Greeks in Switzerland
24	Romania	70036513000000000006,513 (2002 census)[55]		Greeks in Romania
25	Austria	70032535000000000002,535 (2009, Greek citizens)[27]	5,000 [56]	Greeks in Austria
26	New Zealand	N/A	4,500,[57] 10,000[24]	Greeks in New Zealand
27	Netherlands	N/A	4,000,[24] 12,500[58]	Greeks in the Netherlands
28	Egypt	N/A	3,000,[59] 5,000[37]	Greeks in Egypt
29	Bulgaria	70033408000000000003,408 (2001 census)[60]	28,500[61]	Greeks in Bulgaria
30	Czech Republic	70033231000000000003,231 (2001 census)[62]	7,000[63]	Greeks in the Czech Republic
31	Moldova	N/A	3,000[64]	Greeks in Moldova
32	Hungary	70033916000000000003,916 (2011 census)[65]	4,000 - 10,000[66]	Greeks in Hungary
33	Turkey	N/A	2,500[67]	Greeks in Turkey and Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks
34	India	N/A	1,900
35	Norway	70031671000000000001,671[68]		Greeks in Norway
36	Lebanon	N/A	1,500-2,500[24][69]	Greeks in Lebanon
37	Denmark	70031678000000000001,678[70]		Greeks in Denmark
38	Oman	N/A	1,500[24]
39	Poland	70031404000000000001,404 (2002 census)		Greeks in Poland
40	Saudi Arabia	N/A	1,300[24]	Greeks in Saudi Arabia
41	Luxembourg	70031571000000000001,571 (2009)[71]
42	Cameroon	N/A	1,200[24]
43	Venezuela	N/A	1,148[72]
44	Zimbabwe	N/A	1,100[73]	Greeks in Zimbabwe
45	Uruguay	N/A	1,000,[24] 2,000[74]	Greeks in Uruguay
46	Syria	N/A	1,000 [24]	Greeks in Syria
47	Armenia	7002900000000000000900 (2011 census)[75]		Greeks in Armenia and Caucasus Greeks
48	Panama	N/A	800,[24] 1,000[74]
49	Zambia	N/A	800[76]	Greeks in Zambia
50	Kyrgyzstan	N/A	650–700[77]	Greeks in Kyrgyzstan
51	Finland	N/A	500[78]
52	Ethiopia	N/A	500[79]	Greeks in Ethiopia
53	Uganda	7002426000000000000426 (1991, Greek citizens)[80]
54	Republic of Macedonia	7002422000000000000422 (2002 census)[81]		Greeks in the Republic of Macedonia
55	Jordan	N/A	400,[24] 600[82]
56	DR Congo	N/A	300[83]	Greeks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
57	Spain	N/A	300,[24] 1,500–2,000[84]
58	Bahamas	N/A	300[24]
59	Nigeria	N/A	300[85]
60	Tanzania	N/A	300[24]
61	Barbados	N/A	300[86]
62	The Gambia	N/A	300[87]
63	Costa Rica	N/A	80,[24] 290[88]
64	Israel	N/A	250 (non-Jewish Greek only)[89]	Greeks in Israel and Palestine
65	Sudan	N/A	250[90]
66	Azerbaijan	N/A	250–300[91]	Greeks in Azerbaijan
67	Lithuania	N/A	250[92]
68	Malawi	N/A	200[93]
69	Colombia	N/A	200[24]
70	Ireland	N/A	200[24][94]
71	Kenya	N/A	200[24]
72	United Arab Emirates	N/A	200[24]
73	Morocco	N/A	180[24]
74	Peru	N/A	150,[24] 350[95]
75	Portugal	N/A	150,[24] 240[96]
76	Botswana	N/A	150[24]
77	Djibouti	N/A	150[24]
78	Estonia	7002150000000000000150 (2001 census)[97]
79	Hong Kong	N/A	150[24]
80	Kuwait	N/A	140[98]
81	Latvia	7002289000000000000289 (2011 census)[99]	100[100]
82	Japan	N/A	100,[24] 300[101]
83	Bolivia	N/A	100[102]
84	People's Republic of China	N/A	100[103]
85	Philippines	N/A	100[104]
86	Indonesia	N/A	72[105]
87	Papua New Guinea	N/A	70[24]
88	Iran	N/A	60,[24] 80[106]
89	Ivory Coast	N/A	60[24]
90	Madagascar	N/A	60[24]
91	Slovenia	700154000000000000054 (2002 census)[107]
92	Croatia	N/A	50[108]
93	Tunisia	N/A	50[24]
94	Senegal	N/A	50[24]
95	Thailand	N/A	50[109]
96	Central African Republic	N/A	40[24]
97	Qatar	N/A	40[24]
98	Singapore	N/A	40[110]
99	Malta	N/A	500[111]	Greeks in Malta
100	Cuba	N/A	30[24]
101	Algeria	N/A	30[24]
102	Eritrea	N/A	30[24]
103	Slovakia	N/A	100[112]
104	Paraguay	N/A	20,[24] 25[110]
105	Chad	N/A	20[24]
106	Ecuador	N/A	20[24]
107	Guatemala	N/A	20[24]
108	Mozambique	N/A	20[24]
109	Namibia	N/A	20[24]
110	Togo	N/A	20[24]
111	Taiwan	N/A	20[24]
112	Republic of the Congo	N/A	10[24]
113	Belarus	N/A	unknown – for further information, see [1]
114	Dominican Republic	N/A	14[113]
115	Vietnam	N/A	10[114]

Demographics

To learn more about how factors such as intermarriage and assimilation influence self-identification among young Greeks in the diaspora, and help clarify the estimates of Greeks in the diaspora, the Next Generation Initiative is currently conducting an academically-supervised research study that began in the United States in 2008.

The total number of Greeks living outside Greece and Cyprus today is a contentious issue. Where Census figures are available it shows around 3 million Greeks outside Greece and Cyprus. Estimates provided by the Council of overseas Greeks {SAE} put the figure at around 7 million worldwide. The Greek diaspora is also very active as a lobby defending Greek interests, especially in the USA.^[18] Integration, intermarriage and loss of the Greek language also influence the definition and self-definition of Greeks of the diaspora.

The SAE - World Council of Hellenes Abroad is a dependency of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has compiled several studies on the Greeks of the diaspora.

Important centers of the Greek diaspora today are the New York City metropolitan area,^{[14][15][16][17]} Chicago, Boston, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Montreal and Toronto.^[3]

Today

Greek citizenship is acquired by birth by all persons born in Greece, and all persons born to at least one parent who is a registered Greek citizen. People born out of wedlock to a father that is a Greek citizen and a mother that is a non-Greek automatically gain Greek citizenship if the father recognizes them as his child before they turn 18.^[12][13]

Any person who is ethnically Greek born outside Greece may become a Greek citizen through naturalization, providing he/she can prove a parent or grandparent was born as a national of Greece. The Greek ancestor's birth certificate and marriage certificate are required, along with the applicant's birth certificate, and the birth certificates of all generations in between until the relation between the applicant and the person with Greek citizenship is proven.

Greek nationality

The term Pontic Greeks is used to refer to those who have come from the countries around the Black Sea.

[3]