Lebanese Chileans, are immigrants to Chile from Lebanon. Most are Christian and they arrived in Chile in the mid-19th to early-20th centuries to escape from poverty. Ethnically Lebanese Chileans are often called "Turks", (Spanish: Turcos) a term believed to derive from the fact that they arrived from present day Lebanon, which at that time was occupied by the Ottoman Turkish Empire.[2] Most arrived as members of the Eastern Orthodox church and the Maronite church, but became Roman Catholic.[3] A minority are Muslim. [4]
Total population | |
---|---|
27,000 descendants[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Valparaíso, La Serena, Santiago | |
Languages | |
Chilean Spanish, Lebanese Arabic | |
Religion | |
Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Arab Chileans |
The Greek Orthodox Christians built St George's Orthodox Cathedral, Santiago in 1917.[citation needed] It is a cathedral of the Church of Antioch with six parishes.[citation needed]