Largest diasporas in history

[Hounf of Culan]

I'm curious as to what was the largest diaspora group to ever be present in other countries. I know it depends on what definition of diaspora you would use, are people of German descent in America who speak no German part of a diaspora or not and this sort of thing. For this topic I think it would be best if we only included a group who spoke their own language in a foreign country as a diaspora. I'm not really too familiar with the numbers but I imagine the German diaspora in Central and Eastern Europe with the Volga-Germans, Transylvanian Germans etc had to be one of the largest in history. I would also be curious if any of you can find any examples of a foreign ethnic group forming a majority or near majority of the population in a foreign country.

[Azog 150]

I know there is a massive Irish disporia.

25% of British people claim Irish ancestory (About 15 million people), with 10% (6 million) having an Irish grandparent and there are 800,000 Irish born people in Britain (Not including N.Ireland).

In the US 41,000,000 claim to be Irish or at least have Irish ancestory. Thats about 20% of the population. We all know how big a deal the whole Irish thing is in America.

In Australia about 2 million people claim Irish ancestory (About 9%)

In Canada about 4.3 million claim Irish ancestory. Thats about 14%.

World wide (Not in Ireland), there are thought to be 80 million people Irish or Irish decended, compared to Ireland which has a population of just 6 million. So thats a pretty massive one.

Not sure if that fits with your foreign language definition though.




There is also quite a large Armenian disporia thanks to the Armenian Genocide which would fit your criteria.

[cegorach]

Chinese diaspora was and is pretty large, especially in Asia.

Jewish diaspora is almost proverbial example for the purpose of this thread and incredibly important to the survival of this ethnic group.

Next there is the Armenian diaspora - very important to this nation, Circassian diaspora which is at least 5 times larger than the number of Circassians left in their old homeland and other.
From diasporas important in the past Polish seems one of better examples, especially in the XIXth century when Paris was true cultural capital of this nation, without a state at that time.

[Ludicus]

The Greek, Chinese and Indian diasporas. One of the largest diasporas in history was the African diaspora. The British/Spanish/Portuguese diasporas.

[Kjertesvein]

I know there is a massive Irish disporia.

After Ireland, Norway have the largest part of it's population emigrated to USA. Mostly christian fundamentalist and hard liners. USA, no reason to thank us this gift.

[Londinium]

The British diaspora has to be amongst them it consists of the majority of the population of Canada, Australia and New Zealand and large minorities of South Africa and formerly Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Also the largest ancestral ethnic group in the United States and this is while many Americans in the Southern States likely descended from British stock list themselves as 'American' thus making the British presence in America seem lesser than it is.

[Armenum]

There's only about 7 million Armenians in world. 3 million live in Armenia, 1.5 million in Russia, and about 700,000 in US. Rest live in lesser amounts all over world especially Europe, Lebanon, and a small group left in Iran. Without diaspora Armenia would be in much tougher situation, Armenia cannot stand itself with out monetary support from Diaspora.

[The Noble Lord]

There's only about 7 million Armenians in world. 3 million live in Armenia, 1.5 million in Russia, and about 700,000 in US. Rest live in lesser amounts all over world especially Europe, Lebanon, and a small group left in Iran. Without diaspora Armenia would be in much tougher situation, Armenia cannot stand itself with out monetary support from Diaspora.

It is ironic and tragic that in former Armenian heartland of Anatolia there is not even 5.000 Armenians left today. We all know the reason why, and still there are some today that are trying to deny the facts and history!

[husker9.2]

I'm curious as to what was the largest diaspora group to ever be present in other countries. I know it depends on what definition of diaspora you would use, are people of German descent in America who speak no German part of a diaspora or not and this sort of thing. For this topic I think it would be best if we only included a group who spoke their own language in a foreign country as a diaspora. I'm not really too familiar with the numbers but I imagine the German diaspora in Central and Eastern Europe with the Volga-Germans, Transylvanian Germans etc had to be one of the largest in history. I would also be curious if any of you can find any examples of a foreign ethnic group forming a majority or near majority of the population in a foreign country.

being apart of this Diaspora i can tell you that the Volga German community in the united states is quite large. and more interestingly up until the last two generations was quite fluent in Volga German.
German was more common than English in the mid western states for many years.

Unfortunately though of late it has died out. What would be my grand parents by now are among the last fluent speakers of this tongue.

This is a trend though. Volga Germans still residing in Russia have also seen a significant decrease in the need to speak German and thus is dieing out.

I don't know if the Volga Germans are the largest but i know we did number at our peak in Russia in the millions before the great wars.

[Hounf of Culan]

Something I didn't even think of till now is the African diaspora in the Americas, especially Brazil and the Caribbean. According to wiki some 9.4-12 million slaves were brought to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade.

[DAVIDE]

Between XIX and XX century, 25 millions of Italians left Italy

According to wikipedia

"The Italian diaspora concerned nearly 25 million Italians and it is considered the biggest mass migration of contemporary times"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_diaspora

[0N3]

kurds obviously

[Ronojoy1917]

The Indian diaspora is quite large. Especially in Kenya. The indian diaspora makes up for the majority of the population in Suriname.