Lebanese Chileans

Lebanese Chileans
Total population
27,000 descendants[1]
Regions with significant populations
Valparaíso, La Serena, Santiago
Languages
Chilean Spanish, Lebanese Arabic
Religion
Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Arab Chileans

Lebanese Chileans, are immigrants to Chile from Lebanon. Most are Christian and they arrived in Chile in the mid-19th to early-20th centuries to escape from poverty. Ethnically Lebanese Chileans are often called "Turks", (Spanish: Turcos) a term believed to derive from the fact that they arrived from present day Lebanon, which at that time was occupied by the Ottoman Turkish Empire.[2] Most arrived as members of the Eastern Orthodox church and the Maronite church, but became Roman Catholic.[3] A minority are Muslim. [4]

  1. ^ iLoubnan (2009). "Geographical distribution of Lebanese diaspora". Ya Libnan. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. ^ Arab and Jewish immigrants in Latin America: images and realities, by Ignacio Klich, Jeff Lesser, 1998, p. 165.
  3. ^ In Santiago Society, No One Cares If Your Name Is Carey or de Yrarrazaval, By ENID NEMY September 14, 1969, Sunday, Arab and Jewish immigrants in Latin America.
  4. ^ Holston, Mark (2005-11-01), "Orgullosos palestinos de Chile", Américas (in Spanish), ISSN 0379-0975, archived from the original on 2012-05-05, retrieved 2009-07-29