Iranian diaspora

Iranians abroad or Iranian diaspora are Iranian people living outside of Iran and their children born abroad.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

According to various sources, in 2010, there were an estimated four to five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in North America, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the broader Middle East.[7][8][9][10] For the most part, they emigrated after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Their combined net worth is $1.3 trillion (2006 est.)[7][11][12] In 2000, the Iran Press Service reported that Iranian expatriates had invested between $200 and $400 billion in the United States, Europe, and China, but almost nothing in Iran.[9] In Dubai, Iranian expatriates have invested an estimated $200 billion (2006).[13] Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.[14]

Expatriate fund

The government has proposed setting up a joint investment fund with $5 billion in basic capital and an economic union to serve Iranians living abroad. The stated goal is to attract investment from Iranian expatriates and using their experience in stimulating foreign investments.[15] Later, in 2010, it was announced that Iran will start the process by creating a national fund with a basic capital of eight million euros. This fund will later transform into a bank.[7]

The currency used in the fund is the euro and investors are supported by the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran. Iran will pay a guaranteed 10 percent interest on foreign investment.[16] The value of each share in the fund is 1,000 euros. The minimum and the maximum investment amounts are 100,000 and 500,000 shares [sic], respectively.[16]

Religious affiliation

A number of Iranians have converted to Christianity in the diaspora from the predominant Shia Islam, and Iranian churches exist in places like the USA and the UK.[17] A significant number of Iranians abroad, especially Iranian-Americans, are irreligious, agnostic and atheist.[18][19][20]

Statistics by country

List of countries and territories by Iranian population
Country[note 1] Iranian-born[note 2] Residents of Iranian ancestry[note 3] Article
 United States 283,225 (2000)[note 4][21] 448,722 (2010 United States Census)[22] to around 1-2 million (2014 - U.S. Government and other sources)[23][24][25][21][26][27] Iranian American
 Turkey ~500,000 (2010)[28]
 Qatar 270,000[29] Iranians in Qatar
United Arab Emirates UAE 400,000-500,000[30][31] (2008) [note 4][32] Iranians in the United Arab Emirates
 Canada 95,420 (2006) 163,290 (2011)[note 4][33] Iranian Canadian
 Germany 100,000[34] - 120,000[35] (2003) Iranians in Germany
 Kuwait 80,000 (2003)[36] Ajam of Kuwait
 Malaysia 100,000[37][38](2013) [39]
 Sweden 53,892 (2000)[9] 92,428 (2011)[note 2][40] Swedish Iranians
 Japan 12,000 (2000)[41] 7,000 (2000)[42] Iranians in Japan
 Russia 50,000 (2002)[43]
 Bahrain 173,000 (2014)[44] Persians in Bahrain
 Israel 47,800 (2007)[45] 135,000 (2007)[45] Iranians in Israel
 United Kingdom 83,000 (2011)[46] Iranians in the United Kingdom
 Netherlands 35,561 (2014)[47] Iranians in the Netherlands
 Australia 34,455 (2011)[48] 36,168 (2011)[note 4][49] Iranian Australian
 France 18,376 (2000)[9] Iranians in France
 Denmark 8,977 (1991)[42]
 Italy 7,444 (2010)[42]
 Austria 15,585 (2014)[50] 17,000-20,000 (2013)[51]
  Switzerland 4,044 (2000)[42]
 Norway 17,913 (2012)[52] Norwegian Iranians
 New Zealand 2,895 (2006)[53] Iranian New Zealander
 Spain 12,344 (2011)[54] Iranians in Spain
 Portugal 339 (2011)[55]
Total

Politics

Office-holders

Notes

[note 1] The Iranian citizens abroad (scope of this article) differ from the other Iranian peoples living in other areas of Greater Iran, who are of related ethnolinguistical family, speaking languages belonging to the Iranian languages, which is a branch of Indo-European languages. There are an estimated 150 to 200 million native speakers of Iranian languages (including 70 million in Iran as of 2006), the five major groups of Persians, Lurs, Pashtuns, Kurds and Baloch accounting for about 90% of this number.[56] Currently, most of these Iranian people live in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, parts of Uzbekistan (especially Samarkand and Bukhara), the Caucasus (Ossetia and Azerbaijan) and the Kurdish areas (referred to as Kurdistan) of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Smaller groups of Iranian people can also be found in western China. Due to recent migrations, there are also large communities of speakers of Iranian languages in Europe, the Americas and Israel.

[note 2] In some countries naturalized citizens, dual citizens, or children with only one Iranian/foreign-born parent are counted (for statistical purposes) as citizens/nationals of the host country only (i.e. citizen of the country of residence). For example all naturalized Swiss citizens have a legal "Swiss origin" even though it is often not the same as their place of birth.

[note 3] Same as "Iranian-born" but includes their children born abroad.

[note 4] Iranian ancestry (i.e. second or third generation), not necessarily Iranian citizenship.

[note 5] In the period from 1961 to 2005, the United States has been the main destination of Iranian emigrants. A total of 378,995 Iranians have immigrated to the United States in that period, where the major concentrations of Iranian immigrants are California (158,613 Iran-born in 2000),[21] New York state (17,323),[21] Texas (15,581),[21] Virginia (10,889),[21] and Maryland (9,733)[21] Los Angeles Metropolitan Area was estimated to be host to approximately 114,712 Iranian immigrants,[21] earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles. In the case of the United States, the US Census Bureau's decennial census form does not offer a designation for individuals of Iranian descent. Consequently, it is estimated that only a fraction of the total number of Iranians are writing in their ancestry. The 2000 Census Bureau estimates that the Iranian-American community (including the US-born children of the Iranian foreign born) numbers around 330,000. However, studies using alternative statistical methods have estimated the actual number of Iranian Americans in the range of 691,000 to 1.2 million.[9][57]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "DIASPORA". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Central Asia and the Caucasus". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Shirin Hakimzadeh, "Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home", Migration Policy Institute, September 2006 (Retrieved on 2011-06-23. )
  4. ↑ James S. Kessler, "Iranians", The Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2004 (Retrieved on 2011-06-23. )
  5. ↑ "افزایش مهاجرت جوانان آذری به ترکیه". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Азербайджанцы хорошо интегрированы в германское общество – Нусрет Дельбест | Азербайджанцы хорошо интегрированы в германское общество – Нусрет Дельбест | Ежедневный информационный ресурс – "Azeri.ru – Азербайджанцы в России". "Azeri.ru. Retrieved on 201106-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "No Operation". Presstv.com. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  8. ↑ Esfandiari, Golnaz (2004-03-08). "Iran: Coping With The World's Highest Rate Of Brain Drain - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY". Rferl.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "Migration Information Source - Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home". Migrationinformation.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  10. ↑ According to one 2012-Pew study there were only 1,340,000 Iranian-born expatriates."Faith on the Move: The Religious Affiliation of International Migrants". Pewforum.org. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  11. ↑ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 02/14/07
  12. ↑ http://iran-daily.com/newspaper/page/4887/4/18621/0
  13. ↑ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 04/04/06
  14. ↑ Iran Daily - Domestic Economy - 10/22/07
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Iran, world, political, sport, economic news and headlines". MehrNews.com. 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  17. ↑ Miller, Duane Alexander (January 2012). "Iranian Diaspora Christians in the American Midwest & Scotland: Historical Background, Present Realities, & Future Challenges". Global Missiology 9 (2): 1–9. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  18. ↑ Public Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans. Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)/Zogby, December 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Persian NYers Show Their Pride at Murray Hill Parade". Time Warner Cable News. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Disparaging Islam and the Iranian-American Identity: To Snuggle or to Struggle". payvand.com. 21 September 2009.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 "Migration Information Source - Spotlight on the Iranian Foreign Born". Migrationinformation.org. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  22. ↑ "Iranian-Americans and the 2010 Census: Did We Shrink?". Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  23. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, Iran's Political Crisis Fuels Expatriates' Fears, Hopes
  24. ↑ "Iranian-Americans cast ballots on Iran's future". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  25. ↑ Gopalan, Shamini. "U.S. State Department". Highbeam.com. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Alliance of Iranian Americans". Sotoodeh.net. January 7, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Iranian Trade Group". Iraniantrade.org. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  28. ↑ Iran's Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet Era: Resisting the New World order. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  29. ↑ Joshua Project. "Tajik, Afghan of Afghanistan Ethnic People Profile". Joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  30. ↑ "UAE soldiers to learn Persian". Alarabiya.net. 2011-04-09. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  31. ↑ "Sanctions on Iran unable to curb trade | Economy | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere". Gmanetwork.com. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  32. ↑ Travel Video Television News - Iranians investing heavily in Dubai
  33. ↑ "National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  34. ↑ "SCHWERPUNKT: Iraner in Deutschland". Isoplan.de. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  35. ↑ Zuwanderung und Integration. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  36. ↑ http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/EGM_Ittmig_Arab/P02_Kapiszewski.pdf
  37. ↑ Name * (2013-07-15). "The Iranian Shi`i Diaspora in Malaysia /". Mei.edu. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  38. ↑ "Fars News Agency :: Iranian, Malaysian Officials Discuss Consular, Judicial Cooperation". English.farsnews.com. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  39. ↑ "Iranians feeling at home in Malaysia". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  40. ↑ http://www.scb.se/Statistik/BE/BE0101/2011A01B/be0101_Fodelseland_och_ursprungsland.xls
  41. ↑ Sakurai 2003, p. 41
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcensus/V3_table4.xls
  43. ↑ "Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года". Perepis2002.ru. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  44. ↑ Joshua Project. "Language - Persian, Iranian :: Joshua Project". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "שנתון סטטיסטי לישראל 2008 - מספר 59 פרק 2 - מספר לוח 24". Cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  46. ↑ "Estimated population resident in the United Kingdom, by foreign country of birth (Table 1.3)". Office for National Statistics. September 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  47. ↑ "CBS StatLine - Population; sex, age, origin and generation, 1 January". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  48. ↑ "Expanded Community Profile - Australia". Australian 2011 Census data. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  49. ↑
  50. ↑ Statistik Austria. "STATISTIK AUSTRIA - Bevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit und Geburtsland". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  51. ↑ "Bis zu 20.000 Menschen mit iranischen Wurzeln". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  52. ↑ "Innvandrarbefolkninga og personar med annan innvandringsbakgrunn, etter innvandringskategori, kjønn og landbakgrunn. 1. januar 2001". Statistics Norway (in Norwegian).
  53. ↑ "5. Facts and figures - Middle Eastern peoples". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  54. ↑ "Población extranjera por sexo, país de nacionalidad y edad (hasta 85 y más).", Avance del Padrón a 1 de enero de 2009. Datos provisionales, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 2009, retrieved 2009-06-13
  55. ↑ "The Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras" (PDF). sef.pt. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  56. ↑ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). "Report for Iranian languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth ed.) (Dallas: SIL International).
  57. ↑ http://isg-mit.org/projects-storage/census/Factsheet.pdf

Sources

External links

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