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*By the year 2000, there were 7,580,000 Armenians living abroad in total. | *By the year 2000, there were 7,580,000 Armenians living abroad in total. | ||
*Today, the '''Armenian diaspora refers to communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia'''. The total Armenian population living worldwide is estimated to be 11,000,000. Of those, approximately 3 million currently live in Armenia, 130,000 in the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh and 120,000 in the region of Javakheti in '''neighboring Georgia'''. This leaves approximately 7,000,000 throughout the diaspora '''(with the largest populations in Russia, the United States, France, Argentina, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Canada, Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus, and Australia)'''.<ref>"Armenian diaspora", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_diaspora, accessed 14 June 2021.</ref> | *Today, the '''Armenian diaspora refers to communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia'''. The total Armenian population living worldwide is estimated to be 11,000,000. Of those, approximately 3 million currently live in Armenia, 130,000 in the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh and 120,000 in the region of Javakheti in '''neighboring Georgia'''. This leaves approximately 7,000,000 throughout the diaspora '''(with the largest populations in Russia, the United States, France, Argentina, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Canada, Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus, and Australia)'''.<ref>"Armenian diaspora", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_diaspora, accessed 14 June 2021.</ref> | ||
===Armenians in France=== | |||
*Although the first Armenians settled in France in the Middle Ages, like most of the Armenian diaspora, the Armenian community in France was established by survivors of the Armenian genocide of 1915. Others came through the second half of the 20th century, fleeing political and economic instability in the Middle Eastern countries (Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iran) and, more recently, from Armenia. | |||
*In the 19th century, many young Armenian males moved to France for education. | |||
*During the late 19th century and early 20th century, thousands of Armenians escaped persecution in their ancestral homeland that was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. Events like the Hamidian massacres and the Adana massacre gave rise to greater Armenian emigration. By the eve of the First World War, around 4,000 Armenians lived in France. | |||
*As a result of the Allied victory in the First World War, tens of thousands of survivors of the Armenian genocide found themselves living in the French-occupied part of the Ottoman Empire in''' Cilicia''', and far more in the French Mandate territories of Syria and Lebanon. | |||
*In 1920, the French army ordered Armenian refugees to leave at once. France had formed a "peaceful, reconstructive policy" with the Turkish nationalists to pull French troops out of Cilicia, but all that ended up doing was allowing attacks against Armenian civilians to resume. Most Cilician Armenian fled alongside the French and were resettled in refugee camps in Alexandretta, Aleppo, the Beqaa Valley (e.g. Anjar) and Beirut. | |||
*From there, entire families took the opportunity to flee to France. By the early 1920s, approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Armenians lived in France. | |||
*Most Armenians initially arrived in '''Marseille''', thereafter many of them spread across France and settled in large cities, especially in '''Paris and the urban areas across the Paris–Marseille railway, notably Lyon'''. | |||
*Immediately after the Second World War, about 7,000 Armenians '''repatriated to Soviet Armenia'''. | |||
*Thousands of new immigrants arrived in France from the Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Iran since the 1950s. By the 1980s around 300,000 Armenians lived in France.<ref>"Armenians in France", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_France, accessed 15 June 2021.</ref> | |||
===Armenians in Lebanon=== | ===Armenians in Lebanon=== | ||
*There has been an Armenian presence in Lebanon for centuries. According to Minority Rights Group International, there are 156,000 Armenians in Lebanon, around 4% of the population. The Armenian presence in Lebanon during the Ottoman period was minimal; however, there was a large influx of Armenians after the Armenian genocide of 1915. | *There has been an Armenian presence in Lebanon for centuries. According to Minority Rights Group International, there are 156,000 Armenians in Lebanon, around 4% of the population. The Armenian presence in Lebanon during the Ottoman period was minimal; however, there was a large influx of Armenians after the Armenian genocide of 1915. | ||
*Many Armenians inhabited the area of '''Karantina (literally "Quarantine"''', a port-side district in the Lebanese capital of Beirut). Later on, a thriving Armenian community was formed in the neighbouring district of '''Bourj Hammoud.''' | *Many Armenians inhabited the area of '''Karantina (literally "Quarantine"''', a port-side district in the Lebanese capital of Beirut). Later on, a thriving Armenian community was formed in the neighbouring district of '''Bourj Hammoud.''' | ||
*In 1939, after the French ceded the Syrian territory of Alexandretta to Turkey, Armenians and other Christians from the area moved to the '''Bekaa Valley'''. The Armenians were grouped in '''Anjar''', where a community exists to this day. Some of these Armenian refugees had been settled by the French mandate authorities in camps in the South of Lebanon: El Buss and Rashidieh camps in Tyre would later make way for Palestinian refugees.<ref>"Armenians in Lebanon", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Lebanon, accessed 15 June 2021.</ref> | *In 1939, after the French ceded the Syrian territory of Alexandretta to Turkey, Armenians and other Christians from the area moved to the '''Bekaa Valley'''. The Armenians were grouped in '''Anjar''', where a community exists to this day. Some of these Armenian refugees had been settled by the French mandate authorities in camps in the South of Lebanon: El Buss and Rashidieh camps in Tyre would later make way for Palestinian refugees.<ref>"Armenians in Lebanon", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Lebanon, accessed 15 June 2021.</ref> | ||
===Armenians in Syria=== | ===Armenians in Syria=== | ||
*Syria and the surrounding areas have often served as a refuge for Armenians who fled from wars and persecutions such as the Armenian genocide. However, there has been an Armenian presence in the region since the Byzantine era. | *Syria and the surrounding areas have often served as a refuge for Armenians who fled from wars and persecutions such as the Armenian genocide. However, there has been an Armenian presence in the region since the Byzantine era. | ||