The Armenian diaspora is a term used to describe the communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Of the total Armenian population living worldwide (in 2004 estimated to be 9,000,000), only about 3,000,000 live in Armenia and about 130,000 in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian diaspora population is estimated to be 8,000,000.^[1] (See chart of population breakdown by country). Only one-fifth of the world's Armenian population lives in the former Soviet republic of Armenia, and their pre-World War I homeland until the 1920s once covered five or six times that of present-day Armenia, including the eastern regions of Turkey, parts of Iran and Syria.

History

Although an Armenian diaspora existed since the Armenian loss of statehood in 1375 (when the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia fell to the Mamelukes), it grew in size only after the Armenian Genocide.

Although many Armenians perished, others managed to escape, and established themselves in various Eastern European cities, such as Moscow, Russia; Sochi, Russia; Odessa, Ukraine; Sevastopol, Crimea (Ukraine); Tbilisi, Georgia; Batumi, Georgia; Plovdiv.

Others emigrated to the The Balkans, such as Bulgaria and Athens, Greece.

Yet others emigrated to Middle Eastern cities, such as and Aleppo, Syria and Beirut, Lebanon.

Armenians of the Middle East

Immediately after the Armenian Genocide, the Armenians of the diaspora lived in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. Some emigrated to Greece and further. However, as the financial situation of the refugee Armenians improved, the camps grew into towns, and these towns became cities.

This was the case of many of the Armenian-populated regions in Lebanon like Anjar and Bourj Hammoud. In time, the Armenians organized themselves by building churches, schools, community centers, etc. Various political parties and benevolent unions, such as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF or Dashnaktsutiun), the Social-Democrat Hunchakian party (Hunchak), Liberal Democratic (Ramgavar) Party and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), were established wherever there was a considerable number of Armenians.

Following the expansion of Pan-Arabism in Egypt and Syria, Islamism in Iran, and the Lebanese Civil War, tens of thousands of Armenians emigrated from the Middle East and established themselves in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

Some Armenians fought for Iraq in the army under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, two countries known to have large Armenian communities until the 2000s. The Armenian community in Iraq has dwindled after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and a scattering number of Armenians remain in east Asia. The Iranian Armenian community also shrank in size since the 1970s.

Israel has a small Armenian community centered on the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem. A smaller community exists in Israel proper.

Cyprus meanwhile has a small but vocal Armenian community, particularly in the southern portion of the island where the majority population is Greek-Cypriot and Orthodox Christian. During British administration, they were governed as part of the Greek-Cypriot population, and due to the current division of the island operate de facto in a similar fashion today. Like the Latins and the Lebanese Maronites, Armenian-Cypriots have special minority status in Cyprus and are exempt from the military, though some elements of the community have been vocal about removing this exemption. While the Armenian community is guaranteed a seat in the House of Parliament, it is possible that any future solution between the Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot populations might see the Armenian-Cypriot community take on a greater role in the power-sharing arrangement of the island, as they form the third-largest ethnic group and are considerably larger than others.

Armenians in Europe and the Americas

Several million Armenians settled in Western Europe (i.e. France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands) and in the Americas (North and South) as early as in the 1890s.

Following the expansion of Pan-Arabism in Egypt and Syria, Islamism in Iran, and the Lebanese Civil War, many Armenians emigrated from the Middle East and established themselves in the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil where in the city of São Paulo their district names a São Paulo Metro underground train station, and elsewhere, where they founded lobbies to support the Republic of Armenia and extend the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

An estimated 10,000 Armenians are said to reside in Mexico.

Armenians in the Soviet Era

Substantial Armenian communities also exist in the Russian Far East as well as in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Some of these groups were encouraged to settle in the area by both Tsarist and Soviet authorities while others had no choice but to come, being part of Stalin's population deportations.

Other Diaspora Armenians

Armenian communities can also be found in India, New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa (Sudan, South Africa, and Ethiopia), and as far east as Singapore, Myanmar and Hong Kong. Armenian exile communities even once thrived in China, Japan and the Philippines, but the status of Armenian culture in these countries has all but disappeared.

Political and religious conflicts

In the 1940s and 1950s, the Soviet Union was trying to extend its influence throughout the world, and especially in the Middle East. The Social-Democrat Henchagian party, being ideologically close to communism, supported the Soviet Union in its struggle to expand in the Middle East. Partisans of the AGBU, supposedly being politically neutral, also supported the Soviet Union, because Armenia was part of Soviet Union. The ARF, despite its socialist background was a nationalistic party, objected, as it propagated the idea of a free, independent, and united Armenia. As the ARF struggled to preserve the flag, coat of arms, and national anthem of the Independent Armenian Republic of 1918-1922, others chose to support Soviet Armenia, seeing it as the only place in the world where Armenians could live safely as Armenians.

There was also a conflict between the leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenians had 2 Catholicoses. One of them was located in Echmiadzin, Armenia and was supported by the Soviet authorities and in the Armenian diaspora by the Hunchaks, the Ramgavars and the Armenian communists, while the other was located in Antelias, Lebanon and was supported by the Dashnaks, as they thought that the Catholicosate of Echmiadzin was a tool for propagation of communism.

In the 1950s, during the climax of this conflict, there were armed clashes between partisans of the 2 "sides", and also assassination attempts, acts of desecration, etc. However, tensions eased out as in 1965 the conflicting parties came together with joint action to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In 1975 the relations became even closer as during the Lebanese Civil War, the Armenians had to stick together in a pact of "positive neutrality" in order to overcome opposing forces and keep the Armenians as far as possible away from the conflict between the Lebanese.

Armenians in the world

Rank	Country or territory	Capital	Centres of Armenian population	Population of Armenians	Dialect(s) spoken	Country page of Armenian presence	List of famous Armenians
1	Armenia	Yerevan	The entire country	2,968,586 (July 2008 est.)[2] 3,002,594 (2001 census)[3]	Eastern Armenian
2	Russia	Moscow	Moscow, North Caucasus (mainly Krasnodar Krai), Vladivostok	1,130,491 (2002 census)[4] (estimate to 3,000,000)	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Russia	List of Armenian-Russians
3	United States	Washington, D.C.	Los Angeles, Glendale, Fresno, Boston, Watertown, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, Northern New Jersey, Las Vegas, Nevada	1,500,000 [5]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in the United States	List of Armenian Americans
4	France	Paris	Paris, Marseille, Lyon	500,000 [6][7]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in France	List of Armenian-French people
5	Iran	Tehran	Tehran, Isfahan, New Julfa, Tabriz, Urmia, Northern Iran	400,000 [8]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Iran	List of Armenian-Iranians
6	Georgia	Tbilisi	Tbilisi, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Abkhazia	248,900 living in Georgia(2004 census)[9]. Other 46,000 armenians living in Abkhazia and 200 in South Ossetia.	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Georgia, Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti, Armenians in Abkhazia	List of Famous Armenians in Georgia
7	Syria	Damascus	Damascus, Aleppo, Kamishli	190,000 [10]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Syria	List of Syrian Armenians
8	Lebanon	Beirut	Beirut, Bourj Hammoud, Anjar, Antelias	140,000 [11]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Lebanon	List of Lebanese Armenians
9	Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de jure part of Azerbaijan)	Stepanakert	Nagorno-Karabakh Republic	150 080 [12][13]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Azerbaijan Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic	Famous Armenians from Azerbaijan
10	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires, Córdoba	130,000 [14]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Argentina	Notable Armenians in Argentina
11	Ukraine	Kiev	Kiev, Odessa, Crimea, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Luhansk, Kharkiv	99,894 (2001 census)[15]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Ukraine
12	Poland	Warsaw	Gliwice, Gdansk, Kraków	94,000 [16]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Poland	Notable Poles of Armenian descent
13	Turkey	Ankara	Istanbul, with remaining communities in Vakıflı and Sason as well as Hamshenis who have retained their Armenian dialect (Homshetsi) in the Artvin Province.	40,000 to 70,000 (Hamshenis are not included) [17]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Turkey	List of Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople
15	Uzbekistan	Tashkent		70,000 [18]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Uzbekistan
16	Germany	Berlin	Köln,Mannheim,Hamburg,Hanau	44,000 [19] (some estimates to 68,000).	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Germany
17	Canada	Ottawa	Montreal, Laval, Toronto, Cambridge, Vancouver	40,505 (2001 census) [5] (some estimates to 120,000)	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Canada	List of Armenian Canadians
18	Greece	Athens	Athens, Thessaloniki, Piraeus	35,000 [20] (estimates to 55,000)	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Greece
19	Brazil	Brasília	Greater São Paulo area	40,000 (there are estimates up to 80,000) [21]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Brazil
20	Australia	Canberra	Melbourne, Sydney	45,000 to 60,000 [22]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Australia	Notable Armenian Australians
-	Abkhazia (recognised by most of the countries as part of Georgia)	Sukhumi	Sukhumi, Gagra and Gulripsh districts	44,869 (2003 census)[23]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Abkhazia
21	Spain	Madrid	Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia	50,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Spain
22	Turkmenistan	Aşgabat		30,000-44,000 [24]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Turkmenistan
23	Afghanistan	Kabul	Fayzabad, Mazari Sharif, Maymana, Herat	35,000 [25]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Afghanistan
24	Bulgaria	Sofia	Sofia, Plovdiv	30,000 to more of 45,000 [26]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Bulgaria
25	Belarus	Minsk		25,000 [27]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Belarus
26	Kazakhstan	Astana		25,000 to 80,000 [28]	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Kazakhstan
27	Iraq	Baghdad	Baghdad, Mosul, Zakho, Basra, Avzrog, Kirkuk.	20,000-22,000? [29][30]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Iraq	List of Notable Armenian-Iraqis
28	Uruguay	Montevideo		19,000-25,000 [31]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Uruguay
29	United Kingdom	London	London, Manchester	18,000 (there are estimates up to 100,000) [32]	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in the United Kingdom	List of notable British-Armenians
30	Hungary	Budapest	Budapest and Pest county	15,000 to 30,000 [33]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Hungary
31	Czech Republic	Prague		10,000-15,000 [34]	Western Armenian	Armenians in the Czech Republic
32	Israel	Jerusalem	Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem	9,800	Western Armenian	Armenians in Israel
33	Egypt	Cairo	Cairo, Alexandria	8,200 to 12,500	Western Armenian	Armenians in Egypt	List of Egyptian Armenians
34	Sweden	Stockholm	Stockholm, Uppsala	8,000 to 12,000	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Sweden
35	Moldova	Chişinău		7,000	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Moldova
36	Netherlands	Amsterdam	Amsterdam, Dordrecht, The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam	6,000 to 10,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in the Netherlands
37	Tajikistan	Dushanbe		6,000	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Tajikistan
38	Latvia	Riga		5,000-6,300	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Latvia
39	Switzerland	Bern		5,000-9,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Switzerland
40	Kuwait	Kuwait City		5,000 to 10,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Kuwait
-	Jordan	Amman	Amman	5,000 (there are estimates up to 65,000)( [35]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Jordan
41	Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek		3,285 . Actual estimate between 4,000-4,700	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Kyrgyzstan
42	United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi		4,600	Western Armenian	Armenians in the United Arab Emirates
43	Denmark	Copenhagen	Aarhus, Copenhagen, Odense	4,300	Western Armenian	Armenians in Denmark
44	Austria	Vienna		3,000 to more of 7,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Austria
45	Nicaragua	Managua		2,907	Western Armenian	Armenians in Nicaragua
46	Cyprus	Nicosia	Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca	2,740 (1987 census) actual estimate in 6,000 members	Western Armenian	Armenians in Cyprus
47	Venezuela	Caracas		3,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Venezuela
48	Lithuania	Vilnius		2,736	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Lithuania
49	Italy	Rome	Milan, Rome, Venice	2,500 to 4,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Italy
50	Estonia	Tallinn		2,300	Eastern Armenian	Armenians in Estonia
51	Romania	Bucharest		1,780 to 3,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Romania	List of Notable Romanians of Armenian Descent
52	Norway	Oslo		1,000-2,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Norway
53	Finland	Helsinki		1,000-2,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Finland
54	Chile	Santiago		1,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Chile
55	Sudan	Khartoum		1,000-1,500	Western Armenian	Armenians in Sudan
56	Thailand	Bangkok		1,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in Thailand
57	Honduras	Tegucigalpa		900	Western Armenian	Armenians in Honduras
58	New Zealand	Wellington		600-1,000	Western Armenian	Armenians in New Zealand
59	Mexico	Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, Tijuana		560 (there are estimates up to 15,000)	Western Armenian	Armenians in Mexico
60	Albania	Tirana	Tirana, Durrës	576	Western Armenian	Armenians in Albania
61	India	New Delhi	Kolkata	500 to 900	Western and Eastern Armenian	Armenians in India
62	Qatar	Doha		400	Western Armenian	Armenians in Qatar
63	Colombia	Bogotá		400–500?	Western Armenian	Armenians in Colombia
64	Monaco	No official capital		400	Western Armenian	Armenians in Monaco
65	Peru	Lima	Lima, Arequipa	200-250?	Western Armenian	Armenians in Peru
66	South Africa	Pretoria		200-400?	Western Armenian	Armenians in South Africa
67	Pakistan	Karachi		200	Western Armenian	Armenians in Pakistan
68	Cuba	Havana		165	Western Armenian	Armenians in Cuba
69	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa		100 to 300	Western Armenian	Armenians in Ethiopia
70	Japan	Tokyo		100-160	Western Armenian	Armenians in Japan
71	Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo		72	Western Armenian	Armenians in the Dominican Republic
73	Bahrain	Manama		74 to 120	Western Armenian	Armenians in Bahrain
75	Ireland	Dublin		76	Western Armenian	Armenians in Ireland
77	Costa Rica	San José		78	Western Armenian	Armenians in Costa Rica
79	Singapore	Singapore		80	Western Armenian	Armenians in Singapore
80	Zimbabwe	Harare		82 to 230	Western Armenian	Armenians in Zimbabwe
81	Indonesia	Jakarta		84	Western Armenian	Armenians in Indonesia
82	Slovakia	Bratislava		78 [36]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Slovakia
83	Bangladesh	Dhaka		50-80	Western Armenian	Armenians in Bangladesh
84	Guatemala	Guatemala City		50 to 150	Western Armenian	Armenians in Guatemala
85	Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro		20-100 [37]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Côte d'Ivoire
86	Hong Kong	No official capital		16 to 150 [38]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Hong Kong
87	China	Beijing		16 to 350 [39]	Western Armenian	Armenians in China
88	Ghana	Accra		15 [40]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Ghana
89	Senegal	Dakar		15 [41]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Senegal
90	Luxembourg	Luxembourg		10 [42]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Luxembourg
91	Vietnam	Hanoi		8 [43]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Vietnam
92	South Korea	Seoul		12-50?[44]	Western Armenian	Armenians in South Korea
93	Zambia	Lusaka		10 to 80 [45]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Zambia
94	Philippines	Manila		8-30 [44]	Western Armenian	Armenians in the Philippines
95	Swaziland	Lobamba		8 [44]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Swaziland
96	Bolivia	La Paz		12	Western Armenian	Armenians in Bolivia
97	Puerto Rico	San Juan		7 [46]	Western Armenian	Armenians in Puerto Rico
98	Bahamas	Nassau		5	Western Armenian	Armenians in Bahamas