Lebanese Colombian
Encyclopedia
Lebanese Colombians are Colombians
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...

 of Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....

 descent. Most of the Lebanese escaped to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 because of financial hardships and the repressions of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

.

Many Lebanese settled in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 region of Colombia, particularly in the towns of Santa Marta
Santa Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...

, Lorica
Lorica
Lorica is a Latin word literally meaning body armour and may refer to:* A number of types of Roman armour:**Lorica hamata, a hauberk of mail**Lorica manica, armguard**Lorica musculata, a folk term for a muscle cuirass...

, Fundación
Fundación
Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, oranges, bananas, beans, sesame, sorghum, rice, tomatoes,...

, Aracataca
Aracataca
Aracataca is a municipality located in the Department of Magdalena, in Colombia's Caribbean Region. Aracataca is a river town founded in 1885. The town stands beside the river of the same name, the Aracataca river that flows from the nearby Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range into the...

, Ayapel
Ayapel
Ayapel is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.Ayapel is a Colombian municipality located in the far eastern department of Cordoba and bathed by the waters of San Jorge and Ayapel swamp....

, Calamar
Calamar
Calamar is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town is situated on the Magdalena River at the entrance of the Canal del Dique....

, Ciénaga
Ciénaga, Magdalena
Ciénaga is a municipality and a town in the Magdalena Department, Colombia, second largest population center in this department, after the city of Santa Marta. It is situated at 11° 00' North, 74° 15' West, between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Caribbean Sea and the Ciénaga Grande de Santa...

, Cereté
Cereté
Cereté is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.-Name origin:Cereté comes from the two word indigenous words meaning Chere and te .-History:...

, Montería
Montería
Montería is a municipality and city located in Northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean, by the Sinú River. The city and region are famous for their distinct cultural heritages, which include a blend of indigenous Zenú Indians,...

 and Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...

, near the basin of the Magdalena River
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

. The Lebanese subsequently expanded to other cities and by 1945 there were Lebanese living in Ocaña
Ocaña
Ocaña may refer to:*Ocaña, Colombia, a city in Norte de Santander department*Ocaña, Spain, a town in the province of Toledo, site of:**Battle of Ocana, during the Peninsular War*Luis Ocana, a Spanish cyclistSee also:...

, Cúcuta
Cúcuta
Cúcuta is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander, in the northeast of the country. Due to its proximity to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. The city has the constitutional category of Special District. It is located at the most active...

, Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja is a city and municipality in Santander Department, in northeastern Colombia. It is located on the banks of the Magdalena River in the Middle Magdalena region, 110 km west of Bucaramanga. Founded in 1536, Barrancabermeja is home of the biggest petroleum refinery in Colombia,...

, Ibagué
Ibagué
Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...

, Girardot
Girardot
Girardot may refer to:*Girardot, Cundinamarca, a municipality in Cundinamarca, Colombia*Girardot Municipality, Aragua, Venezuela*Girardot Municipality, Cojedes, Venezuela*Girardot Argezas, a character from Namco's Soul series-People with the surname:...

, Honda
Honda, Tolima
Honda is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 26,873 as of the 2005 census. Along with Líbano, Honda is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Líbano-Honda...

, Tunja
Tunja
Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...

, Villavicencio
Villavicencio
Villavicencio is a city and municipality in Colombia, capital of the Department of Meta, with 361,058 inhabitants. The city is located at 4°08S, 73°40W, 75 km southeast of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá by the Guatiquía river...

, Pereira
Pereira
Pereira is a common surname in the Portuguese language.It may also refer to:-Places:*Brazil**Pereira Barreto, municipality in São Paulo**Pereiras, municipality in São Paulo*Colombia...

, Soatá, Neiva, Buga
Buga
Buğa or Boğa means "bull" in Turkic languages, also transliterated as Bugha, or Buqa . It may refer to one of the following persons.*Tala Buga, the khan of Golden Horde between 1287 and 1291...

, Chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

 and Chinácota
Chinácota
Chinácota is a small town and municipality located in the Department of Norte de Santander in Colombia, South America. This department is located on the North-Eastern region of the country, near the border with Venezuela...

. The four major hubs of Lebanese population were present in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bogotá and Cali. The number of immigrants entering the country vary from 5,000 to 10,000 in 1945. Some of these immigrants were Christian-Lebanese and others were adept to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

.

In the 1940s, another wave of Lebanese immigrants came to Colombia, settling in the town of Maicao in northern Colombia. These immigrants were mostly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s and were attracted by the thriving commerce of the town which was benefiting from the neighboring Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n oil bonanza and the usual contraband of goods that flowed through the Guajira Peninsula
Guajira Peninsula
Guajira Peninsula , is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea...

. It is estimated that Colombia has a population of 840,000 Lebanese immigrants.

Notable people

  • Shakira
    Shakira
    Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

  • Valerie Domínguez
  • John Leguizamo
    John Leguizamo
    Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...

  • Faryd Mondragón
  • Soraya (musician)
    Soraya (musician)
    Soraya was an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer.A successful Colombian music star, she had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts...

  • Adriana Tarud
    Adriana Tarud
    Adriana Tarud is a Colombian beauty queen crowned Miss Colombia 2004. She failed to place at Miss Universe 2005 held in Thailand.She like her cousin Valerie Dominguez is also of Arab Ancestry.- References :...

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