Diaspora

This topic is about dispersion of peoples. For the novel by Greg Egan, see Diaspora (novel).

The term diaspora (Ancient Greek διασπορά, "a scattering or sowing of seeds") is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands; being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture.

Originally, the term Diaspora (capitalized) was used to refer specifically to the populations of Jews exiled from Judea in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, and Jerusalem in 135 CE by the Roman Empire. This term is used interchangeably to refer to the historical movements of the dispersed ethnic population of Israel, the cultural development of that population, or the population itself. The probable origin of the word is the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 28:25, "thou shalt be a diaspora (Greek for dispersion) in all kingdoms of the earth". The term has been used in its modern sense since the late twentieth century.

The academic field of Diaspora studies was established in the late twentieth century, in regard to the expanded meaning of 'diaspora'.

The twentieth century in particular has seen massive ethnic refugee crises, due to war and the rise of Nationalism, Fascism, Communism and Racism, as well as from natural disasters and economic collapse. The first half of the twentieth century saw the creation of hundreds of millions of ethnic refugees across Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. Many of these refugees who did not die from starvation or war went to the Americas.

List of notable diasporas

• Afghan people who fled their country throughout the 20th century and the long civil wars
• The African diaspora comprises the indigenous peoples of Africa and their descendants, wherever they are in the world beyond the African continent. Pan-Africanists and Afrocentrists often also consider other Negroid (or "Africoid"), Australoid (also called "Veddoid"), and black Caucasoid peoples as diasporic "African peoples." These groups include the Caucasoid Tamils (also called Dravidians) and the black, Indigenous Australians; and the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Java, Borneo, Sumatra and Malaysia); Melanesia, Polynesia and New Guinea.
• Arabs who have migrated out from the Arab world, and now reside in Western Europe, the Americas, Australia and elsewhere. (see Arab diaspora)
• Armenians living in their ancient homeland, which had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire for centuries, fled persecution and massacres during several periods of forced emigration, from the 1880s to the 1910s, including the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Many Armenians settled in California, France and Lebanon (see Armenian Diaspora).
• Almost 5% of the present-day Australian population lives outside of Australia; for a variety of reasons. This phenomenon is known as the Australian Diaspora
• Chechens who fled Chechnya during the late 20th century insurrection against the Russian Federation
• Chinese Diaspora
• Crimean Tatar diaspora, formed after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by Russia, in 1783.
• The Filipino peoples throughout Australia, the USA, Canada and South-East Asia. Overseas workers have their own political party in the Philippine Congress.
• The French Canadian diaspora includes hundreds of thousands of people who left Quebec for "greener pastures" in the United States, Ontario and the Prairies, between 1840 and the 1930s.
• In Modern Greek, the word diaspora refers to the large populations of Greek descent living in the United States, Australia and other countries. There is a Department of Diaspora Affairs in the Greek government.
• The Roma (English terms:Gypsy, Gypsies), a traditionally 'dispersed' people in Europe, with origins in South Asia (or perhaps, northern India), are even more 'dispersed' today, following The Holocaust of Nazi Germany. (See * Some names for the Roma)
• The Heimatvertriebene, the ethnic German refugees from the former German Empire during and following World War II, enlarged by the Oder-Neisse line
• The Indian diaspora includes millions of people in Suriname, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries who left British India in the 19th and early 20th century, and millions more who have moved to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates in recent decades.
• The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa and nations of the Caribbean and continental Europe. The diaspora contains over 80 million people and it is the result of mass migration from Ireland, due to past famines and political oppression. The term first came widely into use in Ireland in the 1990s when the then-President of Ireland, Mary Robinson began using it to describe all those of Irish descent.)
• The Jewish diaspora in its historical use, refers to the period between the destruction of the Jewish state by the Roman Empire in 137 CE, to the re-establishment of Israel in 1948. In modern use, the 'Diaspora' refers to Jews living outside of the Jewish state of Israel today. There is a 'Ministry of Diaspora Affairs' in the Israeli government, for example.
• Muslim diaspora refers to Muslim populations who have left their traditional homelands in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia and migrated, usually for economic reasons, to the more prosperous regions of the west. They are found especially in European, Russian, North American and Australian urban areas.They are not to be confused with the Muslim populations of India or western China, who arrived or were converted at a time of military conquest by Muslim armies.
• Palestinians who fled Palestine during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see Palestinian exodus, Palestinian refugees)
• "Polonia", the diaspora of the Poles, started with the emigrations after the Partitions of Poland, January Uprising and the November Uprising, enlarged by the Nazi policies, and later by the establishment of the Curzon Line
• The Southeast Asian diaspora includes the refugees from the numerous wars that took place in Southeast Asia, such as World War II and the Vietnam War.
• Various ethnic minorities from areas under Russian and Soviet control following the Russian Revolution, continuing through the mass forced-resettlements under Stalin.
• Various groups fled in large numbers from areas under Axis control during World War II, or after the border changes following the war, and formed their own diasporas. Other than the aforementioned Jewish diaspora, notable are:
• The Somali dispora that includes Ethnic Somalis who live in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. It also includes the million people who live in Europe, North America, and the Middle East as refugees from the civil War. It altogether numbers between five and seven million. This is near the population of Somalia itself.
• The South African diaspora mainly consists of white South African emigrants, especially to white Afrikaans speakers who have fled the country for a number of reasons. There is also a growing black middle class in South Africa, many of whom are starting to emigrate as well, furthering the demographic weight of South Africans abroad. South Africans have largely settled in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Canada.
• Futuristic Science fiction sometimes refers to a "Diaspora", taking place when much of humanity leaves Earth to settle on far-flung "colony worlds".

The above list is not comprehensive or definitive. Only a few have been given much historical attention. There is much talk currently (after Hurricane Katrina in 2005) of a New Orleans or US Gulf Coast diaspora, but only time will tell how significant a number of those evacuees will indeed not return.

During the Cold War era, huge populations of refugees continued to form from areas of war, especially from Third World nations; all over Africa, South and Central America, the Middle East, and east Asia.

A Biblical prophecy about the diasporas is that "in the latter days, people will [be restless, and will] move to and fro".