[35][36], Following a visit to Syria, to participante in a conference that brought together representatives of the Syrian churches and NGOs working with them in the country, Regina Lynch, project director for Aid to the Church in Need, described the difficult situation the local communities endure, but added that "for many Christians, the war has had a positive effect on the faith, and, in spite of everything, it has been an opportunity for the Church to put its teaching on charity and forgiveness into action".[37]. [14] New York City has the highest concentration of Syrian Americans in the United States. Location:Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, India, diasporaHead:Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II Karim (born 1965, elected 2014)Title:Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the EastResidence:Damascus, SyriaMembership:500,000, plus 1,200,000 in IndiaWebsite: https://syriacpatriarchate.org/. [59] The presence of Arabs in Syria is recorded since the 9th century BC,[61] and Roman period historians, such as Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and Ptolemy, reported that Arabs inhabited many parts of Syria,[62] which according to modern historians indicate either an ethnic group or a nomadic way of life. The CIA World Factbook showed an estimated 20.4m people as of July 2021. [31][additional citation(s) needed] Who are the Assyrians? 10 Things to Know about their History & Faith [1] An estimated 1,000 official entries per year came from the governorates of Damascus and Aleppo, which are governorates in modern-day Syria, in the period between 1900 and 1916. Christians make up 10% of the country. The doctrine most commonly at issue was the nature of Christ. ), (2011-07-01) (Estimates, including Palestinian refugees), The Arabs form the majority in all districts except for the, The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, with a Yazidi minority; concentrated in. It also houses the churchs printing press and ecumenical offices, and serves as one of the churchs most important institutions. A popular Syrian drink is the arak beverage. More than 120 churches and Christian places of worship have been destroyed since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. [6][7][8][9] With around 10% of the population, Kurds are the second biggest ethnic group in Syria, followed by Turkmen. [20] The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), commonly referred to as Rojava, has a population of around two million. Unlike many Western foods, Syrian foods take more time to cook, are less expensive and usually more healthy. [42] Six million refugees of the Syrian Civil War also live outside Syria now, mostly in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. Various sources indicate that the name Syria itself is derived from Luwian term "Sura/i", and the derivative ancient Greek name: , Srioi, or , Sroi, both of which originally derived from the Akkadian word Aryu (Assyria) in northern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq [43][44] However, during the Seleucid Empire, this term was also applied to The Levant, and henceforth the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the Assyrians of north Mesopotamia and Arameans of the Levant. Few Syrians celebrate Syria's independence day, April 17. [49], The term Syrian was imposed upon Arameans of modern Levant by the Romans. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the second largest Oriental Orthodox Christian group in Syria. The emergence of a Syriac Orthodox Mayan Church in Guatemala The Christians of Syria are estimated at just under a million, 6.5 percent out of the country's total population of 17 million. Aside from negative stigmas, the first generation of Syrian migrants also faced romantic stereotyping for their Christian origins. "[60], According to The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, in addition to Arabic, the following languages are spoken in the country, in order of the number of speakers: Kurdish,[61] Turkish,[61] Neo-Aramaic (four dialects),[61] Circassian,[61] Chechen,[61] Armenian,[61] and finally Greek. Linguistic Affiliation. Traditional Syrian dishes enjoyed by Syrians include, tabbouleh, labaneh, shanklish, wara' 'enab, makdous, kebab, Kibbeh, sfiha, moutabal, hummus, mana'eesh, bameh, and fattoush. The vast majority of Catholics belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church which was created as a result of a schism within the Greek Orthodox Church, largely over a disputed election to the Patriarchal See of Antioch in 1724. 1. Orthodox Christianity's geographic center remains in Central and Eastern Europe While the worldwide population of all non-Orthodox Christians has virtually quadrupled since 1910, the Orthodox population has merely doubled, from approximately 124 million to 260 million. [50] By 1908, there were 3,000 Syrian-owned businesses in the United States. Syria . By the thirteenth century, breaks had developed between Eastern or Greek Christianity and Western or Latin Christianity. [5] However, Professor John A. Shoup said in 2018 that Kurds made 9% of the population, followed by Turkish-speaking Turkmen comprising 4-5% , Assyrians 4%, Armenians 2%, and Circassians about 1% of the total population. [19], Syrian American marriages are usually very strong; this is reflected by the low divorce rates among Syrian Americans, which are below the average rates in the United States. [90] The spread of the Syrian "idea" amongst the Moslims can be traced to the efforts of Rashid Rida who contributed in the formulation of the Syrian Union Party's manifesto in 1918, demanding that Syria, in the aftermath of World War I and the Ottoman withdrawal from the region, become an independent state and not part of larger Arab one ruled by the Hashemites of the Kingdom of Hejaz. [123][124] The Druze are a mountainous people who reside in Jabal al-Druze who helped spark the Great Syrian Revolt. In 431, the Nestorians were separated from the main body of the Church because of their belief in the dual character of Christ, i.e., that he had two distinct but inseparable "qnoma" (, close in meaning to, but not exactly the same as, hypostasis), the human Jesus and the divine Logos. [77] Arabization gained momentum with the increasing numbers of Muslim converts from Christianity;[73] the ascendancy of Arabic as the formal language of the state prompted the cultural and linguistic assimilation of Syrian converts. [58], Many Syrian Americans prefer traditional relationships over casual dating. A typical Syrian breakfast is a meze. Christians spread throughout Syria and have sizable populations in some cities/areas; important cities/areas are: Syrian Christians, in line with their fellow citizens, have been badly affected by the Syrian Civil War. New facilities for the seminary at Maarrat Sednaya, near Damascus, were consecrated by the Syrian Patriarch on September 14, 1996. Most of the 375,000 Catholics in Syria belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the rest are members of the Latin Church, Maronites (52,000), Armenian or Syriac Rites. Christians engage in every aspect of Syrian life and Syrian Christians are relatively wealthy and more highly educated than other Syrian religious groups. [19], Christian Syrians arrived in the United States in the late 19th century. Eastern Christian Churches (Book) > For example, The Muslims can only date after completing their marriage contact, known as kitabt al-kitab (Arabic: , which means "writing the book" in English), a period that ranges from a few months to a year or more to get used to living with one another. After Archbishop Samuels death in April 1995, the Syrian Holy Synod divided the Archdiocese into three jurisdictions. [52] Later Syrian emigrants served in fields like banking, medicine, and computer science. The current population of the Syrian Arab Republic is 18,780,247 as of Saturday, July 8, 2023, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data. [71], On the eve of the Rashidun Caliphate conquest of the Levant, 634 AD, Syria's population mainly spoke Aramaic as the Lingua franca,[72] while Greek was the language of administration. Metropolitan Malatius Malki Malki (born 1971) is the Patriarchal Vicar for the Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand (82 Joseph St., Lidcombe NSW 2141). [5] Of the pre-war population, six million are refugees outside the country, seven million are internally displaced, three million live in rebel-held territory, and two million live in the Kurdish-ruled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Traditional dress is not very common with Syrian Americans, and even native Syrians; modern Western clothing is conventional in both Syria and the United States. More than six million refugees left the country during the civil war,[10] of whom over five million are registered as refugees by the UNHCR as of mid-2019. But the Council of Chalcedon in 451 provoked a split in the community. The migrant and writer Mary Amyuni described being advised to describe her home as "the Holy Land" to ease her integration into the United States: "hold up the rosaries and crosses first; say they are from the Holy Land because Americans are very religious. Le gustara ver la pgina de Bienestar para el Cercano Oriente Catlico en espaol? In 2016, the country received 10,000 more refugees. Like many other Americans, Syrian Americans view education as a necessity. The outbreak of civil war in Lebanon forced the removal of the students to Damascus, Syria. Please activate JavaScript and reload this page. [20] In the 1920s, the majority of immigrants from Mount Lebanon began to refer to themselves as Lebanese instead of "Syrians".[21]. Western Neo-Aramaic, the only surviving Western Aramaic language, is still spoken in three villages (Ma'loula, Al-Sarkha (Bakhah) and Jubb'adin) in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains by both Muslim and Christian residents. In the past, the name of the Church had been translated to English as "Syrian Orthodox Church". Metropolitan Mathews Mor Antheemos (born 1974) oversees 24 Malankara Syrian Orthodox parishes in the United Kingdom and four in Ireland (13 Dunley Drive, New Addington, Croydon CR0 0RG). It has 24 parishes served by 17 priests. [101] Syrians cluster closely with ancient Levantine populations of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. [118] However, the expansion of Islam did leave an impact on Levantine genes; religion drove Levantine Muslims to mix with other Muslim populations, who were close culturally despite the geographic distance, and this produced genetic similarities between Levantine Muslims and Moroccan and Yemeni populations. [116] Studying the genetic relation between Jews and Syrians showed that the two populations share close affinity. [92] In June 1919 the Syrian National Congress, which included representatives from Palestine and Lebanon, demanded the full independence of Syria, within borders that encompass more or less the Levant; this helped to further strengthen the development of the Syrian national conscious. The Syrian cuisine includes other dishes like stuffed zucchini (mahshe), dolma, kebab, kibbeh, kibbeh nayyeh, mujaddara, shawarma, and shanklish. They are predominantly Christian and claim heritage from Assyria, originating from 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia. The Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church, which gained autocephaly (ecclesiastical independence) in 1912 from the Syriac church, is said to "look to Babylon" and thus represents the historical influence of the Assyrian, or "Chaldean," Church of the East. Syria's population was estimated at 20.8 million ( World Bank ,2011) and was growing at an estimated rate of 2.4 percent in 2004. In Syria, there is also a minority of Protestants. Sunni Islam is the religion of 74% of Syrians. [40] of whom 12% are ethnic Kurds and 5% Turks. They were the precursors of the present-day Syrian and Armenian Orthodox churches. [53] Throughout the United States, there are schools which offer Arabic language classes; there are also some Eastern Orthodox churches which hold Arabic services. [113] Compared to the Lebanese, Bedouins and Palestinians, the Syrians have noticeably more Northern European component, estimated at 7%. 21% earn between $50,000 and $99,999. Sanctions against Syria are hurting children, say advocates [55] There were also a few Jewish communities in Aleppo and Damascus. . For example, They celebrate Christmas and Easter, but since most Syrians are Eastern Orthodox, they celebrate Easter on a different Sunday from most other Americans, and various Saints' days. Demographics of Syria They have preferred to mix in with Muslims rather than form all-Christian units and brigades, and fought alongside their Muslim compatriots against Israeli forces in the various ArabIsraeli conflicts of the 20th century. home page Shore towns promoted as Orthodox enclaves By Jill Garbi February 28, 2011, 12:00 am A young couples' event at Congregation Brothers of Israel, which will represent the Long. Even under Faisal, it was clear that the Arabic speakers in Syria considered themselves Syrians first and Arabs second; this is apparent in the response to the presence of Iraqi and other non-Syrian officials in Faisal's army and government. When "Syrian" became available as a designation at the turn of the 20th century.,[16]:304 3,708 migrants from the region registered as Syrians, only 28 as Turks. During the Syrian civil war, several attacks by ISIS have targeted Syrian Christians, including the 2015 al-Qamishli bombings and the July 2016 Qamishli bombings. [clarification needed] Most Syrians are members of either the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (700,000), or the Syriac Orthodox Church. In the 1950s and 1960s many emigrated from Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. Syrian Americans [22] Syrian American peddlers found their jobs comfortable since peddling required little training and mediocre vocabulary. On 1 January 2011, Syria was estimated to have a population of 24 million people, distributed over its 14 governorates. [53], Syrian Americans, including the earliest immigrants, have always placed a high premium on education. The Antiochian Church became one of the great centers of Christianity in the early centuries. Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East Before the Syrian Civil War, there was quite a large Syrian diaspora that had immigrated to North America (United States and Canada), European Union member states (including Sweden, France, and Germany), South America (mainly in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Chile), the West Indies,[41] Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The Syriac Orthodox Christians number an estimated 30,000-40,000 people (2016), while higher estimations is 70-80,000, out of which an estimated 18,000 live in Sdertlje. [16]:311 Historian Naff writes that as a broad global diaspora threatened the Syrian identity, the preservation of its religious traditions became increasingly important. My primary address is in the United States. According to the United States 2000 Census, almost 62% of Syrian American households were married-couple households. According to historian Philip Hitti, approximately 900,000 Syrians arrived in the United States between 1899 and 1919 (more than 90% of them Christians). the Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 600,000 members, the Syriac Orthodox Church, which has between 1,000,000 and 4,000,000 . Generally, Syrian and other Arab Americans are more highly educated than the average American. [48] Syrian Americans were also part of the Arab American Institute, established in 1985, which supports and promotes Arab American candidates, or candidates commiserative with Arabs and Arab Americans, for office. Other Eastern Catholic churches include the Maronite Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church; there is also a small number of Latin Church Catholics. Syrians ), As of 2018; this data is from CIA World Factbook:[45]. [54] Among the former, approximately 75% of Syrians were Sunni Muslim, of whom, 60% were Arabic-speaking and the remainder of Sunnis included Kurds 8.5%, Turkmen/Turkoman 3%, and Circassians (less than 1%). The Ismailis are an even smaller sect that originated in Asia. [10] Many of the earliest Syrian Americans settled in New York City, Boston and Detroit. [49], The majority of the early Syrian immigrants arrived in the United States seeking better jobs; they usually engaged in basic commerce, especially peddling. Schools in Christian-dominated districts have Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, while the official Syrian weekend falls on Friday and Saturday. [48], In one instance, the Ptolemaic dynasty of the Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt applied the term "Syrian Village" as the name of a settlement in Fayoum. 2554 years: 0.99 male(s)/female Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden More than 50% 30-40% 20-30% 10-20% 5-10% The Ottoman Empire had an elaborate system of administering the non-Muslim " People of the Book ." Such musical instruments include the oud, kanun, rabab, ney, violin, riq, and tableh. In 2014, 17,951,639, a massive decline due to nearly 4 million Syrian refugees leaving the country because of the Syrian Civil War and furthermore because of the death in the war. The war makes an accurate count of the Syrian population difficult, as the numbers of Syrian refugees, internally displaced Syrians and casualty numbers are in flux. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. Winkler, page 184, 1998. Networks of Syrian traders and peddlers across the United States aided the distribution of Syrian settlements; by 1902, Syrians could be found working in Seattle, Washington. "[16]:306 This view pressured Syrians to reject old ways of life as "un-American" and to "accept new ideals. Terrible losses were suffered again during and after World War I because of persecutions and massacres in eastern Turkey. One of the popular desserts made by Syrians is the baklava, which is made of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in honey. The conquest of the area by the Persians and later the Arabs ended Byzantine persecution and created conditions favoring further development of the Syrian Church. 4. [46][47], Early Syrian Americans were not involved politically. Borough Park also gained a substantial Orthodox Jewish population, and it was during this time that the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Brooklyn opened there. Islam and the Arabic language had a similar effect where the Aramaeans themselves became Arabs regardless of their ethnic origin following the Muslim conquest of the Levant. Total enrollment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. [27] Scholars such as Oswaldo Truzzi have speculated that this work ultimately helped Syrian integration into the US by accelerating cultural contact and English language skills. In the following centuries, however, especially during the Crusades, some of the Eastern churches professed the authority of the pope in Rome and entered into or re-affirmed communion with the Catholic Church. It was raised to the status of Archdiocese in 1957. 5564 years: 0.98 male(s)/female People: Ethnic and Linguistic Groups", "The Impact of Muslim Rule on the Pattern of Rural Settlement in Syria", "Symbolism on the Syrian Standing Caliph Copper Coins: A Contribution to the Discussion", "Assyrians and Aramaeans: Modes of Cohabitation and Acculturation at Guzana (Tell Halaf)", "Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish Populations Share a Common Pool of Y-chromosome Biallelic Haplotypes", "Genetic Stratigraphy of Key Demographic Events in Arabia", "The Genetic Heterogeneity of Arab Populations as Inferred from HLA Genes", "Reconstructing Druze Population History", "Genome-Wide Diversity in the Levant Reveals Recent Structuring by Culture", "Y-Chromosome and mtDNA Genetics Reveal Significant Contrasts in Affinities of Modern Middle Eastern Populations with European and African Populations", "Influences of History, Geography, and Religion on Genetic Structure: the Maronites in Lebanon", "Geographical Structure of the Y-chromosomal Genetic Landscape of the Levant: A coastal-inland contrast", Photos and images of Syrian people, Syrian History - Online, Collections of images of Eastern Mediterranean people, including Syrian people, Mideast Image, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syrians&oldid=1162161274, Short description is different from Wikidata, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2020, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, This page was last edited on 27 June 2023, at 10:30. Protestantism was introduced by European missionaries and a small number of Syrians are members of Protestant denominations. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. [citation needed], The traditional clothing of the first Syrian immigrants in the United States, along with their occupation as peddlers, led to some xenophobia. [54], Syrians are of diverse origins; the main influence came from ancient Semitic peoples of the Levant such as the Arameans, as well as populations from Mesopotamia and modern-day Arabia, with additional Greco-Roman influence. Traditional Christianity in Syria is also represented by Oriental Orthodox communities, that primarily belong to the ancient Syriac Orthodox Church, and also to the Armenian Apostolic Church. Damascus was one of the first regions to receive Christianity during the ministry of St Peter. Genetically, Syrian Arabs are a variety of diverse Semitic-speaking groups indigenous to the region. [45][46], The Greeks used the terms "Syrian" and "Assyrian" interchangeably to indicate the indigenous Arameans, Assyrians and other inhabitants of the Levant and Mesopotamia, Herodotus considered "Syria" west of the Euphrates. There is no contradiction between being an Arab and a Syrian since the Syrian Arab identity is multi-layered and being Syrian complement being Arab. [26], According to the 2000 United States census, there are 142,897 Americans of Syrian ancestry living in the United States. Urban population: 54.2% of total population (2018), Rate of urbanization: 1.43% annual rate of change (2015-20 est. There is also evidence of communities of Syrian Orthodox faithful without bishops as distant as Turkestan and Sinkiang during this period. Syrian Americans celebrate many religious holidays, with Christian Syrian Americans celebrating most of the Christian holidays that are already celebrated in the United States, but in addition to a few others or at different times. During the enthronement, the new head became the Catholicos of the East with the name Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III. [81] By the thirteenth century, the Arabic language achieved complete dominance in the region, with many of its speakers having become Arabs.[73]. Its modest, arched outer gate interrupts the souk's long twisting stone wall that is lined with dozens of shops and kiosks. [53] According to the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which represents American health care providers of Syrian descent, there are estimated 4000 Syrian physicians practicing in the United States representing 0.4% of the health workforce and 1.6% of international medical graduates.