thumb|300x300px|Map of the Armenian diaspora in the world (includes people with Armenian ancestry or citizenship). For detailed statistics, see [[Armenian population by country.<br>

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The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered to be indigenous. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. The Armenian diaspora is one of the oldest and largest diasporas in the world, with the oldest community being the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem.

The modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, which forced Armenians in Western Armenia to flee. From that point forward, Armenians became fundamentally a diaspora nation, with a majority of their people living outside their ancestral homeland.

Another wave of emigration from Eastern Armenia occurred in the 1990s amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Turkish-Azeri blockade of Armenia, and an energy crisis. The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs established in 2019 is in charge of coordinating and developing Armenia's relations with the diaspora. The vast majority of ethnic Armenians worldwide do not live in the Republic of Armenia, and this has led to repatriation campaigns.

Terminology

In Armenian, the diaspora is referred to as spyurk (), spelled սփիւռք in classical orthography and սփյուռք in reformed orthography. In the past, the word gaghut (գաղութ ) was used mostly to refer to the Armenian communities outside the Armenian homeland. It is borrowed from the Aramaic (Classical Syriac) cognate of Hebrew galut (גלות).

Armenians in Turkey, such as Hrant Dink, do not consider themselves a part of the Armenian Diaspora, since they have been living in their historical homeland for more than four thousand years. They are not considered part of the diaspora either by the Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan: "Diaspora represents all the Armenians who live beyond the Armenian Highland. In this context, we have singled out the Armenians of Istanbul and those living on the territory of Western Armenia. Those people have inhabited the lands for thousands of years, and they are not considered Diaspora."

History

The Armenian diaspora has been present for over 1,700 years. The Armenian diaspora is divided into two communities – the communities from Anatolia (or Western Armenia) and the communities from the Caucasus or Eastern Armenia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and other communities from the former Soviet Union). Some Armenians in Crimea and in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth switched to Turkic Armeno-Kipchak language.

The modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed during World War I as a result of the Armenian genocide.

In the fourth century, Armenian communities already existed outside Greater Armenia. Diasporic Armenian communities emerged in the Achaemenid and Sassanid empires, and they also defended the eastern and northern borders of the Byzantine Empire. The Armenian diaspora is also notable for its historical mercantile communities throughout Asia in the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern Period, in countries such as China, India, and Iran, many of whom rose to high positions within the various Asian royal courts. Although an Armenian diaspora existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it grew in size due to emigration from the Ottoman Empire, Iran, Russia, and the Caucasus.

Before 1870, 60 Armenian immigrants settled in New England. Armenian immigration rose to 1,500 by the end of the 1880s, and rose to 2,500 in the mid-1890s due to massacres caused by the Ottoman Empire. Armenians who immigrated to the United States before WWI were primarily from Asia Minor and settled on the East Coast. In the year 1910, over 5,500 Armenians immigrated to the United States, and by 1913, 9,355 more Armenians entered the North American borders.

In the United States, the rate of immigration increased after the Immigration Act was passed in 1965.

Distribution

Less than one third of the world's Armenian population lives in Armenia. Their pre-World War I population area was six times larger than that of present-day Armenia, including the eastern regions of Turkey, northern part of Iran, and the southern part of Georgia.

2000, there were 7,580,000 Armenians living abroad in total.

References

  • Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs
  • Ovenk.com, Armenian Diaspora Memory and Innovation
  • The Armenian Diaspora Today: Anthropological Perspectives. Articles in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 29
  • Neruzh Diaspora Tech Startup Program