The Geographies Of The Armenian Nation
Chairman's Office, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, India
Abstract
A 4,500 years-old nation, Armenians settled in various environments, especially after the calamitous 1915-1921 Genocide. Many found refuge in countless countries that welcomed them as refugees, though new arrivals quickly adapted to their new societies, learned local languages, integrated, and succeeded in their respective fields of interest. This paper highlights diaspora populations’ loyalties to their native nation as well as to their adopted countries. It identifies five major communities—India, China, Russia, France and the United States—and briefly discusses how diaspora Armenians in these selected countries protected and preserved their nations. It argues that it was hard work throughout their new geographic spreads that added value, sustained and encouraged creativity, and, above all else, ensured that this minority nation would survive.
Highlights
Introduction: Armenians are an ancient people with significant diasporas that adapted wherever they went around the world. Many were talented professionals, skilled...
Armenian Population: Regrettably, there is no accurate or reliable data for the historical populations of Armenians, though several scholars and institutions have proposed...
From Ur to Anatolia: Whether Armenia may be the site of the Garden of Eden is, of course, a question that preoccupied archaeologists who searched for artifacts that dated ...
On to the Arab and Muslim Worlds: In 2023, nearly half-a-million Armenians called the Arab World home, concentrated in Lebanon (150,000-250,000) and Syria (100,000 to 150,000), as well...
Armenians in India: Armenians have been present on the Indian subcontinent for millennia, with documented references going back to various Persian and Greek expeditions t...
Armenians in China: Although the Armenia community in China was relatively small in 2023, estimated to be about 1,000 individuals, in a country that counted nearly 1.5 bi...
Armenians in Russia: Armenians represent one of Russia’s largest ethnic minorities and, not surprisingly, the largest Armenian diaspora communities outside the republic be...
Armenians in France: In 2023, the Armenian community in France was, by far, the largest in the European Union and the third largest in the world, after those in Russia and...
Armenians in the United States: Americans of Armenian descent formed the second-largest community of the global Armenian diaspora after those in Russia. While the first major wave of...
The Armenian Diaspora in 2023: In Armenian, the diaspora is referred to as “spyruk”, which grew its geographical spread for at least 1,700 years (Susan P. Pattie 2005). While this g...