Syrian Australians

Syrian Australians
السوريون في أستراليا
Total population
55,321 (by Australian Census, 2016)[1]
Languages
Australian English, Syrian Arabic, Assyrian, Standard Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, French (minority)
Religion
Christianity (58.7%), Islam (37.2%)
Related ethnic groups
Other Arab Australians, Syrian people, Lebanese Australians

Syrian Australians are Australians of Syrian descent or Syria-born people who reside in the Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Syrians make up 0.4 percent of the Australian population (55,321 people),[2] with a gender split of 51.3 percent female, 49.7 percent male.[3] The 2016 Australian census revealed 68.8 percent of Syrian Australian homes have Arabic as the language spoken at home, however of the homes where English is not the first spoken language, 37.7 percent are able to speak English fluently.[3] The majority of Syrian Australians arrived prior to 2007 (45.2 percent), with a small group immigrating between 2007–2011 (8.5 percent) then a larger group entering between 2012–2016 (41.3 percent).[3]

Australia has opened its doors to Syrian refugees by prioritizing all persecuted minorities. These include Assyrians, Druze, Syrian Turkmen, and the Yazidis.[2]

  1. ^ "Syrian-Born Community Information Syrian-Born Community Information" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b Crowe, David (2015), First Syrian refugees here for Christmas: Tony Abbott, The Australian, retrieved 15 July 2018
  3. ^ a b c "Syrian Culture". Cultural Atlas. Retrieved 6 November 2020.