Arab Colombians
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| 3.2 million | |
| Languages | |
| Colombian Spanish, Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism Eastern Catholicism (Maronites) Oriental Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy Islam Druze | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lebanese Colombian, Syrian Colombians, Arab Venezuelans, Arab Argentines, Arab Mexicans, Arab Brazilians, Arab diaspora, Arab Christians, Arab Muslims, Druze, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, other Arabs |
Arab Colombians (Arabic: كولومبيون عرب) are Arab immigrants and their descendants in the Republic of Colombia. The National Administrative Department of Statistics estimated the country's Middle Eastern descendant population to be 3.2 million people.
Most of the original Arab migrants to Colombia came from modern day Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine. The primary wave of migration occurred in the late 19th century; when Arab immigrants were first processed through the country's ports, they were classified as Turks because the lands they came from were then territories of the Ottoman Empire. Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics estimated the country's Middle Eastern descendant population at 3.2 million, including 700,000 of Lebanese descent.
Most of whom were described as "Syrian-Lebanese" migrants established themselves in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, in cities and towns near the basin of the Magdalena River such as Maicao, Riohacha, Santa Marta, Lorica, Fundación, Aracataca, Ayapel, Calamar, Ciénaga, Cereté, Montería and Barranquilla. The population later expanded to other areas, and by 1945, there were Arab Middle Easterners moving inland to areas such as Ocaña, Cúcuta, Barrancabermeja, Ibagué, Girardot, Honda, Tunja, Villavicencio, Pereira, Soatá, Neiva, Buga, Chaparral and Chinácota.
The five major cities where the Levantine Middle Eastern population was present were Santa Marta, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bogotá and Cali. Most arrived as members of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, but the majority became Roman Catholic. Estimates of the number of immigrants entering the country in 1945 vary from 40,000 to 50,000; most of these immigrants were Christian and a minority were Muslim.
Many Arabs adapted their names and surnames to the Spanish language as a way to adapt more quickly in the communities where they arrived. For example, people of Arab origin took surnames such as Guerra (originally Harb), Domínguez (Ñeca), Durán (Doura), Lara (Larach), and Cristo (Salibe).