Serbian Australian

Serbian Australians
Аустралијски Срби
Australijski Srbi
Jelena Dokić
Total population

69,544 Australians of Serbian ancestry (2011)[1]
17,328 born in Serbia (2006)[2]

100,000+ Serbs by ancestry altogether[3]
Regions with significant populations
Sydney, Melbourne, Perth
Languages
Australian English, Serbian
Religion
Predominantly † Eastern Orthodoxy
(Serbian Orthodox Church)
Related ethnic groups
European Australian, Serbian New Zealander

Serbian Australians are citizens of Australia who are of Serbian birth or descent. According to the 2011 census, there are 69,544 people in Australia who are of Serbian ancestry. Large Serbian communities and ethnic neighborhoods can be found in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

History

Unique underground Serbian Orthodox Church in Coober Pedy

Serbs have migrated to Australia in various waves during the 20th century. A wave of immigrants came during and after the World War II, majority of whom were members of royalist Chetniks movement along with their families. Serbs were a large part of the immigrant community between 1948–55 and most of them opposed the communist regime then in place (Josip Broz Tito). In 1951 the mostly pro-royalist Serbian communities founded a chapter of the Chicago-based Serbian National Defense Council in Sydney.[4] In 1954 there were 6,118 Yugoslav immigrants in Victoria. Worsening economy in Yugoslavia in the 60s and 70s prompted another wave. Many of those who settled in Victoria had worked in Western Europe (i.e. Germany) prior to coming. The 1961-1971 numbers increase to 49,755 people. After the Yugoslav Wars that broke the federal state of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) succeeded as a federal union. Josip Broz Tito's regime of what was then Yugoslavia and the recent wave since 1980 by the breakup of Yugoslavia followed by the Bosnian War of the 1990s.[5]

Demographics

69,544 (2011) Serbian ancestry [6] 55,114 (0.3%) English and Serbian-speakers (2011 census[6]); 9,857 only Serbian-speakers;[6] the 2006 census recorded 95,362 people of Serbian ancestry.[6]

Estimations of the total number of ethnic Serbs (including by ancestry) vary between over 100,000,[7] c. 130,000.[8]

Notable Serbian Australians

People with Serbian ancestry as a percentage of the population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area, as of the 2011 census

See also

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011)
  2. ↑ 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Ancestry by Birthplace of Parent(s) - Australia : 2006 Census (PDF)
  3. ↑ http://www.srpskadijaspora.info/vest.asp?id=17116
  4. ↑ Stefanovic, D.S. (2002). "Serbs". In James Jupp. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 678. ISBN 978-0521807890.
  5. ↑ http://museumvictoria.com.au/origins/history.aspx?pid=79
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "The People of Australia - Statistics from the 2011 Census" (PDF). Department of Immigration and Border Protection. 2014. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-920996-23-9. Ancestry
  7. ↑ "Manje Srba u Australiji?". Srpska Dijaspora. 2011.
  8. ↑ Palić, Svetlana (17 July 2011). "Četiri miliona Srba našlo uhlebljenje u inostranstvu". Blic. Australiji (130.000)

External links