Kurdish Australians
Kurdish Australians refers to Australians of Kurdish origin or descent. Approximately 10,000 people in Australia claim to be of Kurdish ancestry according to the 2016 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Nearly 6,200 people in Australia claim to be speaking Kurdish at home in the same Census data.
Total population | |
---|---|
10,528 (2016)[1] | |
Languages | |
Kurdish, Australian English, (some knowledge of Turkish, Arabic and Persian) | |
Religion | |
Majority Sunni Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Kurdish Americans, Kurdish British |
History
In Australia, Kurdish migrants first arrived in the second half of the 1960s, mainly from Turkey.[2] In the late 1970s, families from Syria and Lebanon were also present in Australia.[2] Since the second half of the 1980s, the majority of Kurds arriving in Australia have been from Iraq and Iran; many of them were accepted under the Humanitarian Programme.[2] However, Kurds from Lebanon, Armenia and Georgia have also migrated to Australia.
Census results
Kurdish ancestry:[1]
State or territory | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,331 | 2,680 | 3,139 | 4,269 | ||
1,212 | 1,423 | 1,916 | 3,269 | ||
341 | 419 | 668 | 958 | ||
328 | 571 | 722 | 946 | ||
226 | 302 | 442 | 921 | ||
36 | 43 | 60 | 89 | ||
10 | 22 | 15 | 37 | ||
7 | 6 | 13 | 21 | ||
4,491 | 5,466 | 6,975 | 10,528 | ||
Kurdish speakers | |||||
2,839 | 3,597 | 4,590 | 6,202 |
Distribution
The majority live in Sydney and Melbourne.[2] In Sydney, they are mainly found in the suburbs of Auburn, Lakemba, Lidcombe, Bankstown, Punchbowl and the surrounds, which are suburbs in the LGA areas of Cumberland Council and City of Canterbury-Bankstown.
References
- "Australia : © Australian Bureau of Statistics". Kurdstat.com. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- Jupp 2001, 550 .
- "Census Explorer". Statistics of Australia. Retrieved 7 September 2017.