Sudanese Australian

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Sudanese are the third biggest Sub-Saharan African group in Australia, behind only Zimbabwe- and South Africa-born residents; at the 2006 Census 19,049 Australian residents declared they were born in Sudan.

Most Sudanese Australians are Christians, while some of them remain practice traditional African religions. A small percentage of all Sudanese Australians are Muslim.

People of Sudanese decent now live in almost every capital city in Australia, particularly Melbourne (5,911), Sydney (5,335) and Perth (1,993)[1]

Between 1996 and 2005, persons born in Sudan had the largest over-seas born average increase at 28% per year, compared to the people born in Sub-Saharan Africa recorded an average increase of 6% per year, the largest growth of all major regions between 1996 and 2005. In 2006 3,788 people claimed to have Sudanese ancestry.

[edit] Brief history

Most Sudanese migrants arrived in Australia to pursue educational opportunities in both undergraduate and post graduate insititutions across Australia. Almost all of these immigrants came from the various ethnic groups in the southern part of the country. A larger influx of Sudanese emigrated to Australia as a result of political and economic problems. The most noticeable exodus occurred among professional and middle class Sudanese who along with their children took advantage of education and employment opportunities in Australia to emigrate.

Since 1983, fighting between Sudan's Muslim government and non-Muslim rebels in the south has killed about 2 million people. The fighting in Sudan has interfered with the production and distribution of food and caused widespread hunger. Many civilians in southern Sudan had fled the country because of this crisis.

The Sudanese have been migrating to Australia since 1965. However, the first major wave of Sudanese emigrants arrived in Australia during the 1990s. The second major wave arrived in the early 2000s. Only 948 Sudanese-born persons came prior to 1990.

[edit] See also

Sources: Australian Migration

[edit] References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics - Ethnic media package 2006