Lebanese Chileans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 27,000 descendants[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Valparaíso, La Serena, Santiago | |
| Languages | |
| Chilean Spanish, Lebanese Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism Minority: Judaism, Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arab Chileans, Chilean Jews |
| Part of a series of articles on |
| Lebanese people |
|---|
 |
 Lebanon portal |
Lebanese Chileans, are immigrants to Chile from Lebanon. Most are Christian and they arrived in Chile in the mid-19th to early-20th centuries to escape from poverty. Ethnically Lebanese Chileans are often called "Turks" (Spanish: Turcos), a term believed to derive from the fact that they arrived from present day Lebanon, which at that time was occupied by the Ottoman Turkish Empire.[2] Most arrived as members of the Eastern Orthodox church and the Maronite church, but became Roman Catholic.[3] Lebanese Jews from Beirut immigrated to Chile in the late 19th century.[4] A minority of Lebanese Muslims are also present in the country.[5]
