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Total population | |
---|---|
1,000,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Havana, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba | |
Languages | |
Cuban Spanish, Arabic | |
Religion | |
Majority Christianity, Minority Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Arabs, Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians |
Arab Cubans refers to Arab immigrants and their descendants in Cuba and the Cuban diaspora. Most of Cuba's Arab community come from Syrian, Lebanese or Palestinian backgrounds. [1]
While Arabic culture first came to Cuba through Spanish colonization, namely in the architecture and language, the Arab communities migrated to the island in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Many of the immigrants were economically motivated, but other elements including civil unrest and famine resulted in the emigration from their home countries. Most Arabs settled in Havana, with a significant number in Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, where they began establishing their businesses and institutions. [1]
The neighborhood today known as Los Sitios, near Centro Habana and Habana Vieja, was home to nearly 25% of Cuba's Arab community during the migration periods of the early twentieth century. The Church of San Judas y San Nicolás near Calle Monte was a base for the Arab Maronite Catholic community in Havana during the early 20th century and is in continued operation until today.
Estimating the religious composition of Arab Cubans is difficult because of a lack of records. However, the Embassy of Lebanon last conducted a census on Lebanese descendants in Cuba in 1951. Most of the Lebanese-Arabs practiced the Maronite Catholic faith, while many adhered to other faiths including Orthodox Christian, Sunni Muslim, and Shia Muslim. [1]
Arabic and Arab-centered newspapers existed in Cuba up until the 1970s, such as El Cercano Oriente (The Near East), El Árbol del Líbano (The Tree of Lebanon), Al-Etehad (The Union), Al-Faihaa (The Spacious), Al-Sayf (The Saber), and La Unión (The Union).
Arab organizations and associations began appearing during their immigration and existed in nearly every urban area in Cuba. Founded in 1979, The Arab Union of Cuba is the most notable and established Arab association in Cuba and it still operates today. Among the Arab Union of Cuba's work is the development of the Memorial to Arab Immigrants in the Park of the Arab Immigrant on Calle Monte in Havana's Los Sitios neighborhood. [2]
Cities of Arrival for Arab Immigrants [1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
City | Percentage | |||
Havana | 25.5% | |||
Holguín | 5.6% | |||
Santiago de Cuba | 3.9% | |||
Camagüey | 3.3% | |||
Matanzas | 3.1% | |||
Guantánamo | 2.9% | |||
Ciego de Ávila | 2.8% | |||
Santa Clara | 2.7% | |||
Puerto Padre | 2.7% | |||
Cárdenas | 2.4% | |||
Marianao | 2.3% | |||
Guanabacoa | 2.2% |
Arab migration to Cuba from 1920 to 1931 [1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Total | |||
1920 | 682 | |||
1921 | 275 | |||
1922 | 232 | |||
1923 | 1342 | |||
1924 | 1954 | |||
1925 | 1795 | |||
1926 | 1139 | |||
1927 | 606 | |||
1928 | 646 | |||
1929 | 426 | |||
1930 | 180 | |||
1931 | 60 |
Havana is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. It is the most populous city, the largest by area, and the second largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The population in 2002 was 2,137,847 inhabitants, and its area is 728.26 km2 (281.18 sq mi) for the capital city side and 8,475.57 km2 for the metropolitan zone.
Chinatowns in Latin America developed with the rise of Chinese immigration in the 19th century to various countries in Latin America as contract laborers in agricultural and fishing industries. Most came from Guangdong Province. Since the 1970s, the new arrivals have typically hailed from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Latin American Chinatowns may include the descendants of original migrants — often of mixed Chinese and Latino parentage — and more recent immigrants from East Asia. Most Asian Latin Americans are of Cantonese and Hakka origin. Estimates widely vary on the number of Chinese descendants in Latin America but it is at least 1.4 million and likely much greater than this.
Little Havana is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba.
The Lebanese people are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may also include those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state. The major religious groups among the Lebanese people within Lebanon are Shia Muslims (27%), Sunni Muslims (27%), Maronite Christians (21%), Greek Orthodox Christians (8%), Melkite Christians (5%), Druze (5%), Protestant Christians (1%). The largest contingent of Lebanese, however, comprise a diaspora in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa, which is predominantly Maronite Christian.
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Miramar is a residential district of the municipality of Playa, in the city of Havana.
Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. Biblical Scriptures show that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, whom they affiliated to the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. Christianity spread slowly in Lebanon due to pagans who resisted conversion, but it ultimately spread throughout the country. Even after centuries of Muslim rule, it remains the dominant faith of the Mount Lebanon region and has substantial communities elsewhere.
Centro Habana is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs in the city of Havana, Cuba. There are many retail spaces (such as Plaza de Carlos III commercial center, office buildings, hotels, bars and clubs. A chinatown - Barrio Chino - is also located in this district. It is a smaller municipality of Havana, and it has the highest population density.
Lebanese Americans are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon.
Asturians are a Romance ethnic group with Celtic roots, native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula.
Aitou is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is Maronite Catholic.
Arab Colombians refers to Arab immigrants and their descendants in the Republic of Colombia. Most of the migrants came from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine. When they were first processed in the ports of Colombia, they were classified as Turks because what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine were then territories of the Ottoman Empire. It is estimated that Colombia has a Lebanese population of 3.2 million. Meanwhile the Palestine population is estimated between 100,000-120,000.
Arab Chileans are Chileans from predominantly Arab ancestry. People from the Arab world arrived in Chile as early as the mid-19th century. Historically, the Arabs of Chile were called Turks, Moors, Syrians, Lebanese, or Palestinians.
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Lebanese Mexicans refers to Mexican citizens of Lebanese origin.
Cayo Hueso is a consejo popular (ward) in the municipality of Centro Habana, Havana, Cuba. A traditionally working-class neighborhood populated by Afro-Cubans, it is known for its many cultural landmarks such as the Callejón de Hamel, the Fragua Martiana Museum and the Parque de los Mártires Universitarios.
The Plaza del Vapor was a covered market in Havana, it was completed in 1835. Its name derives from its builder Francisco Martí who became later the impresario of the Tacón Theatre and who had a monopoly of fish trade in the city. Martí had a painting placed against a wall from a bar of the ship El Neptuno, the first vapor that made regular round trips between Havana and Matanzas. "It was the image of that ship that ended up naming the building." From the Plaza del Vapor, Martí sold 50% of all the lottery tickets. in Cuba.
The Arab Union of Cuba is an organization and community center in Havana, Cuba that aims to preserve and maintain the Arab community and culture in Cuba. The organization was founded through the merger of existing Arab organizations in Cuba, including the Lebanese Society of Havana, the Arab Center Society and the Society Arab Palestine of Cuba. The organization is housed at the Cuban Arab Cultural Center in the neighborhood of Centro Habana in Havana, Cuba.
There is an abandoned Jai alai court in the back of the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the site of the old Casa de Beneficencia, on Calles Concordia and Lucenas near Calle Belascoain, an area that had been considered in the early part of the city as a place to locate the helpless and the unwanted, it was the edge of the city and the countryside known as the "basurero"; the spectator stands were parallel to Calle Concordia, the front wall of the court faced Calle Lucenas, east in the direction towards Old Havana. The original building has been annexed by five stories of residential concrete construction on the north side along Calle Virtudes. The Havana Jai alai fronton was known as "the palace of screams".
The Hotel Saratoga was a historic hotel located on the Paseo del Prado, in Old Havana near the Fuente de la India. Built in 1880 as a warehouse, it was remodeled into a hotel in 1933. It was further remodeled in 2005 and reopened as a luxury hotel. The hotel was largely destroyed by a gas explosion on 6 May 2022, which killed forty-seven people.