Somali diaspora

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The Somali civil war led to the Somali diaspora, where most of the best educated Somalis left for Northern Europe, The Middle East, and America.

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[edit] United Kingdom and Europe

In Europe, the distribution of Somalis by country is hard to measure because Somali communities have grown so quickly in recent years. The 2001 UK census reported 43,691 Somalis, but recent estimates range between 95,000 and 250,000.[1] In the United Kingdom, London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Leicester are home to the largest concentration of Somalis. There are also significant Somali communities in the Netherlands: 21,733 (2005)[citation needed]; Norway: 16,765 (2005)[citation needed]; Denmark: 16,564 (2006)[citation needed]; Sweden: 15,294 (2004)[citation needed]; and Finland: 7300 [2].

See also: Somali community in Finland

[edit] United States and Canada

In North America, Toronto, Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio, Washington, DC, Ottawa, Seattle, Atlanta, and San Diego have the largest Somali populations, although they are scattered throughout the continent in small numbers. [3]

Between 1992 and 2005, 64,439 persons born in Somalia were admitted to the United States as refugees, which was the vast majority of total emigration from Somalia during that period. Unlike the European figures, however, this statistic does not include US-born children. (Source: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services)[citation needed]

An estimated 20,000 Somali refugees ended up in the US State of "10,000 Lakes" some 10 years ago with only their clothes on their backs. Today, the city of Minneapolis is galore with hundreds of Somali owned and operated businesses. Colourful stalls inside several malls offer everything from Halal meat, to stylish leather shoes, to the latest fashion for men and women, gold jewelry, money transfer or Xawaala offices, banners advertising the latest Somali movie, video stores fully stocked with nostalgic love songs not found in the mainstream supermarkets, groceries, and boutiques. [1].

[edit] Middle East

The Somalis are the largest African community in the United Arab Emirates, driven out of their home by years of unrest. Somali businesses line the streets of the Dubai city centre, Deira; internet cafes, hotels, coffee shops, restaurant and import-export businesses are a testimony to the Somalis' entrepreneurial spirit. Star African Air is one of three Somali-owned airlines which have headquarters in Dubai rather than in Somalia [2].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hermione Harris, The Somali community in the UK: What we know and how we know it, Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK, King's College London, June 2004, accessed 2 March 2007
  2. ^ (Finnish) Ulkomaalaiset Suomessa
  3. ^ National databases accessed from http://www.migrationinformation.org/GlobalData/
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