Arab Venezuelans (Arabic: عرب فنزويلا; Spanish: Árabe-Venezolano) refers to Venezuelan citizens of Arab origin or descent. There are around 1,600,000 Venezuelans of Arab origin, mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.[1] Most Arab Venezuelans are of Syrian descent with their number between 400,000 and 1 million inhabitants,[2][3] and Lebanese descent with their number between 341,000[4] and 500,000.[5]
Migration history
Arab immigration to Venezuela started as early as the 19th and 20th centuries. They came mostly from the Ottoman provinces of Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, and are present in significant numbers in Caracas.
Immigration of Arabs in Venezuela has influenced Venezuelan culture, in particular Arabic food and music.
According to the Venezuelan Institute of Statistics, about one million Venezuelans have Syrian origins and more than 20,000 Venezuelans are registered in the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus.[6] Other sources stated that there is around 60,000 Syrian-Venezuelans living in Syria.[7] More than 200,000 people from the Sweida area carry Venezuelan citizenship and most are members of Syria's Druze sect, who immigrated to Venezuela in the past century.[8] In 2021 The largest Druze communities outside the Middle East are in Venezuela (60,000) and in the United States (50,000).[9]
Notable people
Dalal Taha, Venezuelan Vice President, former Minister for the Interior and Justice
^Salloum, Habeeb (2000). "Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico". Al Jadid. 16 (30). Retrieved 18 January 2017. These newcomers scattered throughout the country and are the core of today's 400,000 Syrians living in Venezuela... [t]hey have joined the approximately 500,000 prior immigrants and their descendants, reinforcing Arab culture amongst the older Arab community which had been almost totally assimilated.
^Gomez, Diego (Feb 2012). "EL LEVANTE Y AMÉRICA LATINA. UNA BITÁCORA DE LATINOAMÉRICA EN SIRIA, LÍBANO, JORDANIA Y PALESTINA". distintaslatitudes.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2017. de acuerdo con el Instituto de Estadística de Venezuela, cerca de un millón de venezolanos tienen orígenes sirios y más de 20 mil venezolanos están registrados en el catastro del consulado sudamericano en Damasco.
^Vasquez, Fidel (October 2010). "Venezuela afianza relaciones con Siria" (in Spanish). Aristobulo Isturiz PSUV. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017. en Siria residen más de 60 mil ciudadanos sirio-venezolanos.
^"Chavez tells Israelis to disobey 'genocidal' govt". 26 September News. Sep 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2017. More than 200,000 people from the Sweida area carry Venezuelan citizenship and most are members of Syria's Druse sect, who immigrated to Venezuela in the past century.
