Christian emigration#Ottoman Palestine

{{main|Religion in the Middle East|Christianity in the Middle East|Arab Christians|Arab diaspora}}

File:St Elias Antiochian Orthodox church Ottawa.jpg church in Canada; Christian communities make up a significant proportion of the Middle Eastern diaspora.]]

Millions of people descend from Arab Christians and live in the Arab diaspora, outside the Middle East, they mainly reside in the Americas, but there are many people of Arab Christian descent in Europe, Africa and Oceania. The majority of Arabs living outside the Arab World are Arab Christians. Christians have emigrated from the Middle East, a phenomenon that has been attributed to various causes included economic factors, political and military conflict, and feelings of insecurity or isolation among minority Christian populations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48146305|title=Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'|work=BBC News|date=3 May 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/persecution/christians-are-the-most-persecuted-religious-group-in-the-world.html |title=Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world |website=www.catholiceducation.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508182045/https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/persecution/christians-are-the-most-persecuted-religious-group-in-the-world.html |archive-date=2019-05-08}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report|title=Persecution of Christians "coming close to genocide" in Middle East – report|website=TheGuardian.com|date=2 May 2019}} The higher rate of emigration among Christians, compared to other religious groups, has also been attributed to their having stronger support networks available abroad, in the form of existing emigrant communities.

Christians had a significant impact contributing the culture of the Arab world, Turkey, and Iran.{{cite journal|last=Radai|first=Itamar|year=2008|title=The collapse of the Palestinian-Arab middle class in 1948: The case of Qatamon|url=http://weblaw.haifa.ac.il/he/faculty/kedar/lecdb/general/421.pdf|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=43|issue=6|pages=961–982|doi=10.1080/00263200701568352|issn=0026-3206|access-date=15 August 2016|s2cid=143649224|archive-date=18 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018134857/http://weblaw.haifa.ac.il/he/faculty/kedar/lecdb/general/421.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Pacini|first=Andrea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMfYAAAAMAAJ|title=Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-829388-0|pages=38, 55|access-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310101859/https://books.google.com/books?id=KMfYAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=10 March 2021|url-status=live}} Today Christians still play important roles in the Arab world, and Christians are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate.{{cite book|title=Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East|first=Michael |last=Curtis|year= 2017| isbn=9781351510721| page =173|publisher=Routledge}}

Historical events that caused large Christian emigration from the Middle East include: 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, Assyrian genocide, 1915–1918 Great Famine of Mount Lebanon, 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, 1956–57 exodus and expulsions from Egypt, Lebanese civil war, and the Iraq war.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/syro-lebanese-migration-1880-present-push-and-pull-factors|title=Syro-Lebanese Migration (1880–Present): "Push" and "Pull" Factors|website=Middle East Institute|access-date=29 October 2021|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028180824/https://www.mei.edu/publications/syro-lebanese-migration-1880-present-push-and-pull-factors|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258174806|title=Emigration and Power A Study of Sects in Lebanon, 1860–2010|access-date=19 April 2021|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029224302/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258174806_Emigration_and_Power_A_Study_of_Sects_in_Lebanon_1860-2010|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|url= http://www.meforum.org/487/editors-introduction-why-a-special-issue |format=PDF|title=Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East|journal=Middle East Quarterly |access-date=11 June 2013|year=2001|last1=Quarterly |first1=Middle East }}

{{main|Christianity in Egypt|Copts in Egypt|Egyptian diaspora|Coptic diaspora}}

File:(1)Coptic Church Rhodes 033.jpg and St Merkorious Coptic Orthodox Church in Rhodes, Sydney.]]

As with most diaspora Arabs, a substantial proportion of the Egyptian diaspora consists of Christians. The Copts have been emigrating from Egypt both to improve their economic situation and to escape systematic harassment and persecution in their homeland.

The Coptic diaspora began primarily in the 1950s as result of discrimination, persecution of Copts and low income in Egypt.Seteney Shami, "'Aqualliyya/Minority in Modern Egyptian Discourse" in Words in Motion: Toward a Global Lexicon (eds. Carol Gluck & Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing: Duke University Press, 2009), p. 168.Afe Adogame, The African Christian Diaspora: New Currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity (A & C Black, 2013), p. 72.Ken Parry, The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), p. 107. After Gamal Abdel Nasser rose to power, economic and social conditions deteriorated and many wealthier Egyptians, especially Copts, emigrated to United States, Canada and Australia. 1956–1957 exodus and expulsions from Egypt was the exodus and expulsion of Egypt's Mutamassirun, which included the British and French colonial powers as well as Christian Greeks, Italians, Syro-Lebanese, Armenians.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n6qjaDq1sRwC&pg=PA233|title=The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914–1952|last=Krämer|first=Gudrun|year=1989|publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=9781850431008}} Emigration increased following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the emigration of poorer and less-educated Copts increased after 1972, when the World Council of Churches and other religious groups began assisting Coptic immigration. Emigration of Egyptian Copts increased under Anwar al-Sadat (with many taking advantage of Sadat's "open door" policy to leave the country) and under Hosni Mubarak. Many Copts are university graduates in the professions, such as medicine and engineering."Diaspora, Copts in the" in The A to Z of the Coptic Church (ed. Gawdat Gabra: Scarecrow Press, 2009), pp. 91–92. The new post-2011 migrants to the United States included both educated middle-class Copts and poorer, more rural Copt.{{cite news|last=Wallace|first=Bruce|title=Amid Instability In Egypt, Coptic Christians Flee To U.S.|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/01/04/168609672/amid-instability-in-egypt-coptic-christians-flee-to-u-s|publisher=NPR|work=All Things Considered|date=January 4, 2013}}

The number of Copts outside Egypt has sharply increased since the 1960s. The largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia, but Copts have a presence in many other countries.

{{main|Christianity in Iran|Iranian Armenians|Assyrians in Iran|Iranian diaspora|Armenian diaspora|Assyrian diaspora}}

File:Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale , California (2001) full.JPG: home to large number of Armenian immigrants from Iran.]]

Christians and other religious minorities make up a disproportionately high share of the Iranian diaspora. Many Christians have left Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.{{cite book|title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity| first=Christoph |last=Baumer|year= 2016| isbn= 9781838609344| page =276|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing }}{{cite book|title=Iranian Jews in Israel: Between Persian Cultural Identity and Israeli Nationalism| first=Alessandra |last=Cecolin|year= 2015| isbn= 9780857727886| page =138|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing }}

The Assyrians residing in California and Russia tend to be from Iran.{{cite book |last1=Shoumanov |first1=Vasili |title=Assyrians in Chicago |publisher=Arcadia Publishing}} The Iranian revolution of 1979 greatly contributed to the influx of Middle Eastern Armenians to the US.{{cite book|last=Bakalian|first=Anny|title=Armenian Americans: From Being to Feeling Armenian|year=1993|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|isbn=1-56000-025-2|page=11}} The Armenian community in Iran was well established and integrated, but not assimilated, into local populations. Many lived in luxury in their former country, and more easily handled multilingualism, while retaining aspects of traditional Armenian culture.{{cite journal|last=Papazian |first=Dennis |title=Armenians in America |journal=Journal of Eastern Christian Studies |url=http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/america.html |volume=52 |access-date=25 November 2012 |pages=311–347 |year=2000 |issue=3–4 |doi=10.2143/JECS.52.3.565605 |publisher=University of Michigan-Dearborn |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311221526/http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/america.html |archive-date=11 March 2007 |url-access=subscription }}

The city of Glendale in the Los Angeles metropolitan area is widely thought to be the center of Armenian American life (although many Armenians live in the aptly named "Little Armenia" neighborhood of Los Angeles), there are also a great number of Armenian immigrants from Iran in Glendale who, due to the religious restrictions and lifestyle limitations of the Islamic government, immigrated to the US, many to Glendale since it was where their relatives resided.{{cite news|last=Bittman|first=Mark|title=This Armenian Life|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/magazine/this-armenian-life.html|access-date=30 September 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 July 2013|author-link=Mark Bittman}}

{{main|Christianity in Iraq|Assyrians in Iraq|Armenians in Iraq|Iraqi diaspora|Assyrian diaspora}}

Image:Chaldeanchurch.jpg in Chaldean Town, Detroit: the city is home to a large Iraqi Chaldean Catholic community.Levin, Doron P. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/17/us/west-bloomfield-journal-jews-and-ethnic-iraqis-a-neighborhood-s-story.html WEST BLOOMFIELD JOURNAL; Jews and Ethnic Iraqis: A Neighborhood's Story]." The New York Times. December 17, 1990. Retrieved on September 11, 2013.{{cite book|author=Jacob Bacall|title=Chaldeans in Detroit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3YvBQAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-4671-1255-0}}]]

Following the Iraq War, the Christian population of Iraq has collapsed. Of the nearly 1 million Assyro-Chaldean Christians,{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=61897 |title=Christians live in fear of death squads |publisher=Irinnews.org |date=19 October 2006 |access-date=29 June 2011}}{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3526386.stm | title = Iraqi Christians' long history |date = 13 March 2008 | work = BBC | access-date = 31 October 2010}} most have emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia and within some of the countries in Europe, and most of the rest concentrated within the northern Kurdish enclave of Iraqi Kurdistan.{{cite news|title=Abandoned and betrayed, Iraqi Christians rise up to reclaim their land |work=The National|url=http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/abandoned-and-betrayed-iraqi-christians-rise-up-to-reclaim-their-land|access-date=18 November 2016}} With continuing insurgency, Iraqi Christians are under constant threat of radical Islamic violence.

Since the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the resulting breakdown of law and order in that country, many Syriac speaking Assyrians and other Christians have fled the country, taking refuge in Syria, Jordan and further afield.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/20/damon.iraqrefugees/index.html |title=Iraq refugees chased from home, struggle to cope |work=CNN|date=20 June 2007 |access-date=29 June 2011}}[https://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/11/03/un_nearly_100000_flee_iraq_monthly/ U.N.: 100,000 Iraq refugees flee monthly]. Alexander G. Higgins, Boston Globe, 3 November 2006 Their percentage of the population has declined from 12% in 1948 (4.8 million population), to 7% in 1987 (20 million) and 6% in 2003 (27 million). Despite Assyrians making up only 3% of Iraq's population, in October 2005, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported of the 700,000 Iraqis who took refuge in Syria between October 2003 and March 2005, 36% were "Iraqi Christians." {{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

{{main|Christianity in Lebanon|Lebanese diaspora}}

File:Templo Ntra Sra de Balvanera fachada.jpg: the city is home to a large Lebanese Christian community.Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp, "Immigrant positioning in twentieth-century Mexico: middle easterners, foreign citizens, and multiculturalism." Hispanic American Historical Review 86.1 (2006): 61-92.]]

Lebanon has experienced a large migration of Lebanese Christians for many generations. Currently, the number of Lebanese people who live outside Lebanon (8.6[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/May-01/255048-bassil-promises-to-ease-citizenship-for-expatriates.ashx#axzz30yVHukzf Bassil promises to ease citizenship for expatriates]-14{{cite web |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1018721190906 |title=Country Profile: Lebanon |work=FCO |date=3 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080206062728/http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1018721190906 |archive-date=6 February 2008 }} million), is higher than the number of Lebanese people who live within Lebanon (4.3 million). Most of the members of the diaspora population are Lebanese Christians, but some of them are Muslims, Druze and Jews. They trace their origins to several waves of Christian emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman Syria.{{Cite journal|last=Rogan|first=Eugene|date=October 2004|title=Sectarianism and Social Conflict in Damascus: The 1860 Events Reconsidered|journal=Arabica|volume=51|issue=4|pages=494|doi=10.1163/1570058042342207|jstor=}}

Under the current Lebanese nationality law, diaspora Lebanese do not have an automatic right of return to Lebanon. Due to varying degrees of assimilation and a high number of interethnic marriages, most diaspora Lebanese have not taught their children to speak the Arabic language, but they still retain their Lebanese ethnic identity.

The Lebanese Civil War has further fed the higher Christian emigration rate. Higher Muslim birthrates, the presence of Palestinians in Lebanon and the presence of Syrian migrant workers have all contributed to the reduction of the Christian proportion of the Lebanese population. Lebanese Christians are still culturally and politically prominent, forming 35-40% of the population. Since the end of the Lebanese Civil War, Muslim emigrants have outnumbered Christians, but the latter remain somewhat over-represented compared to their proportion of the population.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnewa.org/bulletin-bodypg.aspx?BulletinID=682 |title=CNEWA - Christian Emigration Report: Lebanon and Syria (23 January 2002 23 January 2002) |access-date=2005-10-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427020651/http://www.cnewa.org/bulletin-bodypg.aspx?BulletinID=682 |archive-date=2006-04-27 }}

{{main|Palestinian Christians|Palestinian diaspora}}

File:Iglesia ortodoxa de la Stma Virgen Maria 20171120 fRF02.jpg: Chile houses the largest Palestinian Christian community in the world outside of the Levant.]]

The immigration of Palestinian Christians started in the 19th century as a result of the Ottoman discrimination against Christians.The Lebanese in the world: a century of emigration, Albert Habib Hourani, Nadim Shehadi, Centre for Lebanese Studies (Great Britain), Centre for Lebanese Studies in association with I.B. Tauris, 1992Between Argentines and Arabs: Argentine orientalism, Arab immigrants, and the writing of identity, Christina Civantos, SUNY Press, 2005, p. 6.Arab and Jewish immigrants in Latin America: images and realities, by Ignacio Klich, Jeff Lesser, 1998, pp. 165, 108.{{cite book|work=Rockford Institute|title=Chronicles – Volume 26|date=2002|page=7}}The Palestinian Diaspora, p. 43, Helena Lindholm Schulz, 2005 1948 or nakba and 1967 occupations and wars made many Christians were expelled, flee or lose their homes due to Israel.Laura Robson, Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine, p. 162 There has been considerable emigration of Palestinians and Palestinian Christians are disproportionately represented within the Palestinian diaspora.{{cite book |last1=Farsoun |first1=Samih |title=Culture and Customs of the Palestinians|date=2004}} Most Gazan Christians have fled the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover in 2007, largely relocating to the West Bank.

There are also many Palestinian Christians who are descendants of Palestinian refugees from the post-1948 era who fled to Christian-majority countries and formed large diaspora Christian communities. Worldwide, there are around one to four million Palestinian Christians in these territories as well as in the Palestinian diaspora, comprising around 6–30% of the world's total Palestinian population.{{cite web|title=Palestinian Christians: Challenges and Hopes|author=Bernard Sabella|publisher=Bethlehem University|url=http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm|access-date=25 April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415005256/http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm|archive-date=15 April 2010|url-status=dead}} Palestinian Christians live primarily in Arab states surrounding historic Palestine and in the diaspora, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

Today, Chile houses the largest Palestinian Christian community in the world outside of the Levant. Over 450,000 Palestinian Christians reside in Chile, most of whom came from Beit Jala, Bethlehem, and Beit Sahur.'You See How Many We Are!'. David Adams [http://www.1worldcommunication.org/youseehow.htm lworldcommunication.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917231858/http://1worldcommunication.org/youseehow.htm |date=17 September 2010 }} Also, El Salvador, Honduras, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries have significant Palestinian Christian communities, some of whom immigrated almost a century ago during the time of Ottoman Palestine.Palestine in South America. V!VA Travel Guides. [http://www.vivatravelguides.com/south-america/chile/chile-articles/palestine-in-chile/ vivatravelsguides.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318183514/http://www.vivatravelguides.com/south-america/chile/chile-articles/palestine-in-chile/ |date=18 March 2018 }}

{{main|Christianity in Syria|Armenians in Syria|Assyrians in Syria|Arameans in Syria|Syrian diaspora}}

File:Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Paraíso, São Paulo .jpg in São Paulo: the city is home to a large Syrian-Lebanese Christian community.{{cite book|author=John Tofik Karam|title=Another Arabesque: Syrian-Lebanese Ethnicity in Neoliberal Brazil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5n6C_6c4goC&pg=PA44|access-date=26 December 2015|year=2008|publisher=Temple University Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1-59213-541-7|page=44}}]]

There are almost as many Syrian people living outside of Syria (15{{cite web|last=Singh|first=Shubha|title=Like India, Syria has a large diaspora (With stories on Syrian president's visit)|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/like-india-syria-has-a-large-diaspora-with-stories-on-syrian-presidents-visit_10061438.html|publisher=Theindian News|access-date=March 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016061701/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/like-india-syria-has-a-large-diaspora-with-stories-on-syrian-presidents-visit_10061438.html|archive-date=October 16, 2014|url-status=dead}} million), as within (18 million). Most of the diaspora population is Syrian Christians.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} They trace their origin to several waves of Christian emigration, starting with the exodus during Ottoman Syria. Syrian Christians tend to be relatively wealthy and highly educated.[http://rozenbergquarterly.com/why-do-so-few-christian-syrian-refugees-register-with-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-refugees/ Why Do So Few Christian Syrian Refugees Register With The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees?], Marwan Kreidie: Adjunct Professor of Political Science, West Chester University.

Under the current nationality law, diaspora Syrians do not have an automatic right of return to Syria.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} Varying degrees of assimilation and the high degree of interethnic marriages caused most diaspora Syrians have not passed on Arabic to their children, but they still maintain a Syrian ethnic identity.

The eruption of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 caused Christians to be targeted by militant Islamists and so they have become a major component of Syrian refugees.

In FY 2016, when the US dramatically increased the number of refugees admitted from Syria, the US let in 12,587 refugees from Syria, with 99% being Muslims (few Shia Muslims were admitted). Less than 1% were Christian, according to the Pew Research Center analysis of the State Department Refugee Processing Center data.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/05/u-s-admits-record-number-of-muslim-refugees-in-2016/|title=U.S. admits record number of Muslim refugees in 2016|first=Phillip|last=Connor|date=5 October 2016 }}

The religious affiliation of Syria's 17.2 million people in 2016 was approximately 74% Sunni Islam, 13% Alawi, Ismaili and Shia Islam, 10% Christian and 3% Druze.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/|title=Syria|date=February 27, 2023|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}} The population has declined by more than 6 million because of the civil war.

{{main|Christianity in Turkey|Greeks in Turkey|Armenians in Turkey|Assyrians in Turkey|Turkish diaspora}}

Originally, most emigrants from what is now Turkey were Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire, including Greek refugees.{{cite book |author=Matthew J. Gibney, Randall Hansen. |title=Immigration and Asylum: from 1900 to the Present, Volume 3 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/immigrationasylu00matt/page/377 377] |isbn=1-57607-796-9 |quote=The total number of Christians who fled to Greece was probably in the region of I.2 million with the main wave occurring in 1922 before the signing of the convention. According to the official records of the Mixed Commission which was set up in order to monitor the movements, the "Greeks' who were transferred after 1923 numbered 189,916 and the number of Muslims who were expelled to Turkey was 355,635. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/immigrationasylu00matt/page/377 }} Today, emigration from Turkey consists primarily of Muslims.

File:Sankt Afrems katedral i Södertälje.jpg; the city is home to a large Syriac community, mostly from Tur Abdin.{{cite book |last1=Lundgren |first1=Svante |title=The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq |date=15 May 2019 |publisher=Nineveh Press |isbn=978-91-984101-7-4 |page=14}}]]

The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 19% (possibly 24% because of Ottoman underestimates) in 1914 to 2.5% in 1927,{{cite journal|last=İçduygu|first=Ahmet|author2=Toktaş, Şule|author3=Ali Soner, B.|title=The politics of population in a nation-building process: emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|date=1 February 2008|volume=31|issue=2|pages=358–389|doi=10.1080/01419870701491937|s2cid=143541451 |hdl=11729/308|hdl-access=free}} due to events which significantly impacted the country's demographic structure, such as the Armenian genocide, the massacre of 500,000 Greeks, the massacre of 375,000 Assyrian Christians, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey,{{citation|title= Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821-1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition|type=PDF|publisher=Nikolaos Andriotis |year=2008}} and the emigration of Christians (such as Levantines, Greeks, Armenians etc.) to foreign countries (mostly in Europe, the Americas, Lebanon and Syria) that actually began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century, especially during World War I and after the Turkish War of Independence.{{cite journal|url= http://www.meforum.org/487/editors-introduction-why-a-special-issue |format=PDF|title='Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East|journal=Middle East Quarterly |publisher=Editors' Introduction |access-date=11 June 2013|year=2001 |last1=Quarterly |first1=Middle East }} Ottoman censuses underestimated the number of Christians, which was really close to 24.5% of the entire population, 4.3 million, not 3 million, as was reported.{{cite journal|last1=İçduygu|first1=Ahmet|last2=Toktaş|first2=Şule|last3=Ali Soner |first3=B. |s2cid=143541451 |title=The politics of population in a nation-building process: Emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|url=https://www.academia.edu/761694|date=1 February 2008|volume=31|issue=2|pages=358–389|doi=10.1080/01419870701491937|hdl=11729/308|hdl-access=free}} The decline is mainly due to the Armenian genocide, the Greek genocide, the Assyrian genocide, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey and the emigration of Christians that began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century.{{citation |title= Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF) |publisher=Nikolaos Andriotis |year=2008}}

Emigration continued to occur in the 1980s, as Assyrian communities fled from the violence which was engulfing Tur Abdin during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.{{cite book |last1=Lundgren |first1=Svante |title=The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq |date=15 May 2019 |publisher=Nineveh Press

|isbn=978-91-984101-7-4 |page=14}} Today, more than 160,000 people of different Christian denominations represent less than 0.2% of Turkey's population,{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html#tu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003300/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html#tu|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2007|title=Religions|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=9 February 2013}} Today, more than 200,000-320,000 people who are members of different Christian denominations live in Turkey, they make up roughly 0.3-0.4 percent of Turkey's population.

{{main|Christianity in Maghreb}}

Prior to independence, Algeria was home to 1.4 million pieds-noirs (ethnic French who were mostly Catholic),{{Cite book | author=Cook, Bernard A. | title=Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaeuro01acoo | url-access=limited | year=2001 | publisher=Garland | location=New York | isbn=978-0-8153-4057-7 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaeuro01acoo/page/n461 398]}}{{cite book|last1=Greenberg|first1=Udi|last2= A. Foster|first2=Elizabeth|title=Decolonization and the Remaking of Christianity|year=2023|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Pennsylvania|isbn=9781512824971|pages=105}} Morocco was home to half a million Christian Europeans (mostly of Spanish and French ancestry),De Azevedo, Raimondo Cagiano (1994) [https://books.google.com/books?id=N8VHizsqaH0C&pg=PA25 Migration and development co-operation.]. Council of Europe. p. 25. {{ISBN|92-871-2611-9}}.{{cite book|title=Area Handbook for Morocco|first=Richard |last=F. Nyrop|year= 1972| isbn= 9780810884939| page =97|publisher=University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign}} Tunisia was home to 255,000 Christian Europeans (mostly of Italian and Maltese ancestry),{{cite book|author=Angus Maddison|title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030 AD:Essays in Macro-Economic History: Essays in Macro-Economic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EeWy7a6nAHcC&pg=PA214|access-date=26 January 2013|date=20 September 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-922721-1|page=214}} and Libya was home to 145,000 Christian Europeans (mostly of Italian and Maltese ancestry). There are also Christian communities of Berber or Arab descent in Greater Maghreb, made up of persons who converted mostly during the modern era, or under and after French colonialism.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ly4DgtT3LkC&q=Moroccan+christianity&pg=PA653|title=The Encyclopedia of Christianity|first1=Erwin|last1=Fahlbusch|first2=Geoffrey William|last2=Bromiley|first3=Jan Milie|last3=Lochman|first4=John|last4=Mbiti|first5=Jaroslav|last5=Pelikan|first6=David B.|last6=Barrett|first7=Lukas|last7=Vischer|date=24 July 1999|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=9780802824158|via=Google Books}} Due to the exodus of the pieds-noirs and other Christian communities in the 1960s, more North African Christians of Berber or Arab descent now live in France than in Greater Maghreb.

{{main|Christianity in India|Indian diaspora}}

File:St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Sharjah.jpg in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.]]

Christians have also migrated from India but for their own reasons and in small few numbers, as India has been considered as one of the safest places for them in South Asia.

For instance in India, Christians comprise 2.2% of the population of India. In 2011, Christians represented 16% of the total people of Indian origin in Canada.[http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-621-x/89-621-x2007004-eng.htm#6 The East Indian Community in Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104162204/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-621-x/89-621-x2007004-eng.htm#6 |date=4 January 2015 }}. Statcan.gc.ca (16 July 2007). Retrieved 29 July 2013. According to the 2011 Census, Christians represented 10% of the total people of Indian origin in the United Kingdom.[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/previous-foi-requests/population/ethnicity-and-religion-by-age/dc2201ew---ethnic-group-and-religion.xls DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion (Excel sheet 21Kb)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123221517/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/previous-foi-requests/population/ethnicity-and-religion-by-age/dc2201ew---ethnic-group-and-religion.xls |date=23 January 2016 }} ONS. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2016-01-14. According to 2014 Pew Research Center research, 18% of Indian Americans consider themselves Christian (Protestant 11%, Catholic 5%, other Christian 3%).{{cite web |title=Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2012/07/19/asian-americans-a-mosaic-of-faiths-overview/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=28 April 2019 |date=19 July 2012 |archive-date=July 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716064702/http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx |url-status=live}}

{{main|Christianity in Pakistan|Pakistani diaspora}}

Christians have also fled Pakistan, especially in response to the application of Islamic blasphemy laws.

{{main|Christianity in China|Chinese diaspora}}

File:Surry Hills Church 2.JPG; the church is reputedly the oldest surviving Chinese church in Australia.{{cite book|title=So Great A Cloud Of Witness|year=1993|publisher=Chinese Presbyterian Church|isbn=0646138340|page=1}}]]

Christians have also fled China, especially in response to waves of religious persecution has been a contributory factors in emigration from China since it's a self-proclaimed communist state, and its declared state atheism.

There is a significantly higher percentage of Chinese Christians in the United States than there is in China, as a large amount of Chinese Christians fled and are still fleeing to the United States under Communist persecution.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/c09b2ee4b71540c8a7fd6178820c5970|title=Group: Officials destroying crosses, burning bibles in China|date=10 September 2018|website=AP NEWS|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111031523/https://apnews.com/c09b2ee4b71540c8a7fd6178820c5970|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/freedom-of-religion-in-china-a-historical-perspective|title=Freedom of Religion in China: A Historical Perspective|last=University|first=Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown|website=berkleycenter.georgetown.edu|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=3 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903200044/https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/freedom-of-religion-in-china-a-historical-perspective|url-status=live}} According to the Pew Research Center's 2012 Asian-American Survey, 30% of Chinese Americans aged 15 and over identified as Christians (8% were Catholic and 22% belonged to a Protestant denomination).{{cite news |url=http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx |title=Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths |date=19 July 2012 |work=The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=15 February 2013 |quote=Unaffiliated 52%, Protestant 22%, Buddhist 15%, Catholic 8% |archive-date=16 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716064702/http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx |url-status=live }}

{{main|Christianity in North Korea|Korean diaspora|Persecution of Christians in North Korea}}

Christians have also fled from North Korea, especially in response to waves of religious persecution. The persecution of Christians in North Korea has contributed to their emigration because North Korea's government is a self-proclaimed communist state, and one of the guiding principles of its official ideology of Juche is state atheism.

• After Saturday Comes Sunday
• Crypto-Christianity
• Diaspora politics
• Muhajir (disambiguation)
• Persecution of Christians
• Pieds-noirs
• Religious cleansing
• Christian population growth
• Demographics of Christianity
• History of Christianity

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.wusul.com/ Wusul.com - Gathering Middle East Christians]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051201104239/http://www.cnewa.org/generalpg-ver1.aspx?pageID=126 Christian emigration reports, from the Catholic Near East Welfare Association]

Christianity

Category:Emigration

Emigration

Category:Refugees

Category:Religious demographics

Category:Refugees in Africa

Category:Refugees in Asia