Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more Lebanese living outside Lebanon (over 4 million), than within the country (4 million citizens). The diaspora population consists of Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Jews. The Christians trace their origin to several waves of emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman empire.
Under the current Lebanese nationality law, the Lebanese diaspora do not have an automatic right to return to Lebanon. Varying degrees of assimilation and a high degree of inter-ethnic marriages in the Lebanese diaspora communities, regardless of religious affiliation, caused most of the Lebanese diaspora not to have passed fluency in Arabic to their children although they still maintain a Lebanese ethnic identity.
The largest diaspora by far resides in Brazil, with between 5 and 7 million, followed by Colombia and Argentina, with about 1 to 3 million each, but it may be an exaggeration, given that an official survey conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed that fewer than 1 million Brazilians claimed any Middle-Eastern origin.
Demographics
Although there are no reliable figures, the diaspora is estimated to be around 4 to 14 million people, far more than the internal population of Lebanon of around 4.6 million citizens in 2020. According to other estimates, the number of Lebanese living outside the country is thought to at least double the number of citizens living inside, which means at least 8 million people. Of the diaspora, 1.2 million are Lebanese citizens.
History
The Lebanese diaspora has always been a target to the Lebanese state to create institutional connection. In 1960 the World Lebanese Cultural Union was established under the authority of the President Fouad Chehab.
France has always been an important destination for the Lebanese diaspora, because Lebanon used to be a French colony and because French language is massively spoken in Lebanon.
The Lebanese diaspora, while historically trade-related, has more recently been linked to the Lebanese Civil War, with many Lebanese emigrating to Western countries. Because of the economic opportunities, many Lebanese have also worked in the Arab World, most notably Arab states of the Persian Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Currently around 61% of Lebanese citizens resident in Lebanon are Muslim, around 34% are Christian, and about 5% Druze.
The Americas have long been a destination for Lebanese migration, with Lebanese arriving in some countries at least as early as the nineteenth century. The largest concentration of Lebanese outside the Middle East is in Brazil, which has, according to some sources, at least 6 million Brazilians of Lebanese ancestry, making Brazil's population of Lebanese greater than the entire population of Lebanon. According to a research conducted by IBGE in 2008, covering only the states of Amazonas, Paraíba, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso and Distrito Federal, 0.9% of white Brazilian respondents said they had family origins in the Middle East
There are also other large Lebanese communities elsewhere in South America, including Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela. Many Lebanese have also been settled for quite some time in the United States, Australia, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and in the European Union member states. In addition, sizable populations exist in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, as well as West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana.
A law passed in 2008 permitted Lebanese abroad to vote in Lebanese elections, starting in 2013.
Business networks and economic impacts
Many Lebanese entrepreneurs and business people worldwide have proved very successful in all kinds of sectors and contexts. Lebanese abroad are considered "rich, educated and influential." Remittances from Lebanese abroad to family members within the country were estimated at $8.9 billion in 2014 and accounted for 18% of the country's economy. However, there remains a great untapped potential for further collaboration and cooperation between the diaspora and the Lebanese in their home country. Foreign direct investment is below 7% of the GDP, and almost half the Lebanese population is in tertiary education.