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Lebanon Emigration and Immigration


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Finding the Town of Origin in Lebanon

If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Lebanon, see Lebanon Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Lebanon Emigration and Immigration

"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country.
Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. So

Immigration: Refugees

  • In May 1948, Lebanon supported neighboring Arab countries in a war against Israel. 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the war. Israel did not permit their return after the cease-fire. As of 2017 between 174,000 and 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon with about half in refugee camps.
  • In 2012, the Syrian civil war threatened to spill over in Lebanon, causing more incidents of sectarian violence and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. According to UNHCR, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon increased from around 250,000 in early 2013 to 1,000,000 in late 2014.[1]

Lebanese Diaspora

  • 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 like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
  • 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 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 more than twice that of the entire population of Lebanon.
  • There are also other large Lebanese communities in Latin American countries, namely Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, Haiti and Dominican Republic.
  • 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. There are also sizable populations in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore as well as francophone West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana.[2]

Lebanese Americans[3]

  • Large scale-Lebanese immigration began in the late 19th century and settled mainly in Brooklyn and Boston, Massachusetts. They were marked as Syrians; many of the immigrants were Christians. Upon entering America, many of them worked as peddlers. The first wave continued until the 1920s.
  • The second wave of Lebanese immigration began in the late 1940s and continued through the early 1990s, when Lebanese immigrants had been fleeing the Lebanese Civil War. Between 1948 and 1990, over 60,000 Lebanese entered the United States. Since then, immigration has slowed to an estimated 5,000 immigrants a year, and those who now settle are predominantly Muslim, in contrast to the predominantly-Christian population of immigrants of previous waves.
  • Dearborn, Michigan has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States, at over 40%. The rest of Metro Detroit has an even larger population of Lebanese residents.
  • Brooklyn, New York has one of the oldest Lebanese populations in America, dating over 125 years; one large center is in the Bay Ridge section. Once predominantly Christian, the Lebanese in Bay Ridge are today equally split between Muslims and Christians.
  • South Paterson, New Jersey historically had a large Lebanese Christian population dating back to the 1890s, but only a few remain, and the neighborhood has largely been replaced by new Palestinian immigrants.
  • Brooklyn holds a significant Lebanese community, with a Maronite Cathedral the center of one of two eparchies for Maronite Lebanese in the United States, the other being in Los Angeles.
  • Other sizeable Lebanese communities are found in:
  • Easton, Pennsylvania
  • Utica, New York
  • San Diego, California
  • Jacksonville, Florida
  • Sterling Heights, Michigan
  • Los Angeles County and San Francisco, California
  • Peoria, Illinois
  • Grosse Pointe, Michigan
  • Miami, Florida
  • Wichita, Kansas
  • Bloomfield, Michigan
  • Fall River, Massachusetts
  • Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Boston, Massachusetts
  • Methuen, Massachusetts
  • Lawrence, Massachusetts
  • Salem, New Hampshire
  • Cleveland, Ohio
  • Lansing, Michigan
  • East Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Lafayette, Louisiana
  • St. Clair Shores, Michigan
  • Toledo, Ohio
  • Houston, Texas

"Syria" and "Lebanon"in Records

'From the early 16th Century until World War I, Syria and the Mount Lebanon region were part of the Ottoman Empire. For this reason, most Lebanese and Syrians immigrating before 1918 had Turkish passports, and were grouped in U. S. Census Abstracts under the heading "Turkish" or "Asian." After the First World War, Lebanon and Syria operated under French mandate, gaining independence in the 1940s.

The close relationship of these two countries from the earliest days of recorded history helps explain a present-day puzzle. Until the 1950s, most of the immigrants referred to themselves as "Syrian" whether they came from Syria or the Mount Lebanon region. One explanation is that at the time of their heaviest immigration, "Syria" was a familiar word in the United States, and "Lebanon" was not; to simplify things, they said "Syrian." ' by Sandra Hasser Bennett, Genealogy Today

Lebanese Church Records in the United States

"According to Historian Philip Hitti, in 1924 there were 34 Maronite churches, 21 Greek Catholic churches, 24 Antiochian Greek Orthodox churches, 31 Syrian Greek Orthodox churches, and a few Mosques attending to the religious needs of Lebanese and Syrian people in the United States. by Sandra Hasser Bennett, Genealogy Today U.S. directories will be helpful in churches which are useful in finding information about your Lebanese immigrant ancestors.

"Contact the Church your relatives attended. For many immigrants, it was the center of their cultural and social lives, and may have birth, marriage or death records of your family. The Church will certainly know the history of that particular congregation, possibly even have it in writing. You will want this information because it will help in your personal research. If you contact the church by mail, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. There may be a charge for any record they provide, but in any case, make a donation for their help." by Sandra Hasser Bennett, Genealogy Today

Records of Lebanese Emigrants in Their Destination Nations

Dark thin font green pin Version 4.png One option is to look for records about the ancestor in the country of destination, the country they immigrated into. See links to Wiki articles about immigration records for major destination countries below. Additional Wiki articles for other destinations can be found at Category:Emigration and Immigration Records.

For Further Reading

There are additional sources listed in the FamilySearch Catalog:

References

  1. ↑ "Lebanon", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon, accessed 11 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "Lebanese diaspora", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_diaspora, accessed 11 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Lebanese Americans", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Americans, accessed 11 July 2021.
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