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Lebanese Australians

There have been three main ‘waves’ of Lebanese immigration and settlement in Australia: from about 1880 to 1947; from 1947 to 1975; and post-1975.

The first Lebanese migrant landed in Australia in 1876. At that time the area now known as Lebanon was a province of the Ottoman Empire. The colonial governments of the time classified them as Turks.

By 1947, the Lebanon-born and Syria-born population in Australia totalled 1,886. The great majority were Maronite, Melkite and Orthodox Christians. A small number of Druse had settled in South Australia.

The years 1947-1961 accounted for a net increase in the Lebanon-born in Australia of about 400 a year, followed by about 800 a year during 1961-1966. The 1967 Arab-Israeli war and general uncertainty in the region caused the net intake to increase to 3,000 a year during 1966-1971 before dropping back to 2,200 a year during 1971-1976.

As a result of the sharp rise in Lebanese immigration, the Lebanon-born community in Australia increased from 10,688 persons in 1966 to 33,424 in 1976. The outbreak of civil war in Lebanon in late 1975 resulted in the third wave of Lebanese migration to Australia, with the Australian Government easing entry restrictions to allow Lebanese already in Australia to sponsor family members. Some 16,000 Lebanese migrated in the decade to 1981.

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Jointly produced by Multicultural Affairs Branch and the Economic and Demographic Analysis Section of DIMIA. For more information see
http://www.immi.gov.au/statistics/
stat_info/comm_summ/textversion/summarytext.htm