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Total population | |
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128,693 (by ancestry, 2021) [1] (0.5% of the Australian population) 17,281 (by birth, 2021) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Primarily capital cities | |
Languages | |
Australian English, Spanish. Minority speaks Catalan, Galician, and Basque. | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism (majority) (Protestantism) (minority) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Spaniards, Castilians, Asturians, Cantabrians, Aragonese, Galicians, Catalans, Basques, other Hispanic and Latin American Australians |
Part of a series on the |
Spanish people |
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Rojigualda (historical Spanish flag) |
Regional groups |
Other groups
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Significant Spanish diaspora |
Languages |
Other languages |
Category Spainportal |
Spanish Australians refers to Australian citizens and residents of Spanish descent, or people who were born in Spain and immigrated to Australia. There are approximately 123,000 Australians who are of full or partial Spanish descent, most of whom reside within the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with lesser but rapidly growing numbers in Brisbane (which has over 15,000) and Perth. [2] Of these, according to the 2011 Australian census, 13,057 were born in Spain. [3]
Although Spanish seafarers began exploring the South Pacific in the sixteenth century, it was not until the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s that Spanish immigrants began to arrive in Victoria. The first Spanish restaurant was opened in Melbourne in 1860. By 1871, 135 Spaniards lived in Victoria, 80% of them men. Over the next two decades, the number of Spanish women arriving in Victoria tripled; a few more men also arrived.
Despite a military coup in Spain in 1923 and the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, few Spanish refugees settled in Victoria. Immigration Acts passed in the 1920s restricted the entry of Spaniards and other southern Europeans. By 1947, the Spain-born population of Victoria was only 252.
The Spain-born population dramatically increased from the late 1950s, following the 1958 Spanish-Australian migration agreement. The agreement provided assisted passages to Spanish migrants, many escaping poverty and hunger. The community in Victoria increased from 374 in 1954 to 3,143 in 1966.
During the following decades economic improvements in Spain coincided with a slowing of Spanish immigration to Australia. The Spain-born community in Victoria today has declined from 4,067 in 1986 to 3,523, in 2016.
The Spain-born community in Victoria is also aging: 45% of its population are between the ages of 50 and 75. Living predominantly in the Geelong area, the majority are employed as professionals and tradespeople.
The community is supported by a number of groups and organizations including the Spanish Welfare Centre (CELAS), providing counseling, community development and educational programs. Spanish culture in Victoria is further maintained through SBS and community radio and television programs, and publications such as The Spanish Herald. [4]
Greek Australians are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 Australian census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek ancestry, comprising 1.7% of the Australian population. At the 2021 census, 92,314 Australian residents were born in Greece.
Irish Australians are residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish immigrants and descendants have been a prominent presence in the Australian populace since the First Fleet's arrival in New South Wales in 1788.
Croatian Australians are Australian citizens of Croatian ancestry. Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.
Sudanese Australians are people of Sudanese origin or descent living in Australia. The largest population of Sudanese Australians reside in Victoria (6,085).
Romanian Australians may include those who have immigrated to Australia from Romania, and Australian-born citizens of Romanian descent. According to ABS figures, there are 15,268 people in Australia who were born in Romania and 28,103 people with Romanian ancestry in Australia.
Turkish Australians or Australian Turks are Australians who have emigrated from Turkey or who have Turkish ancestral origins.
Serbian Australians, are Australians of ethnic Serb ancestry. In the 2021 census there were 94,997 people in Australia who identified as having Serb ancestry, making it a significant group with the global Serb diaspora.
Bosnian Australians are Australians of Bosnian ancestry. At the 2021 census, 28,246 people stated that they had Bosnian ancestry. At the 2021 census, 26,171 Australian residents were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ukrainian Australians refers to Australian citizens of Ukrainian descent, or Ukraine-born people who emigrated to Australia. They are an ethnic minority in Australia, numbering about 38,000 people according to the 2011 Census. Currently, the main concentrations of Ukrainians are located in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
Chilean Australians are Australians of Chilean descent or Chileans who have obtained Australian citizenship. Chileans are the second largest group of Hispanic and Latin American Australians residing in Australia. The biggest Chilean Australian communities are primarily found in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Japanese Australians are Australian citizens and residents who claim Japanese ancestry.
Maltese Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Maltese descent or Malta-born persons who reside in Australia. According to the 2021 Census, there were 198,989 people of Maltese descent in Australia and 35,413 Malta-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census.
Hispanic and Latin American Australians refers to Australians who are of Hispanic, and/or Latin American origin irrespective of their ancestral backgrounds, and their descendants. Brazilian Australians make up the largest proportion of Hispanic and/or Latin American Australians, followed by Chilean Australians and Salvadoran Australians. Most Hispanic and Latin American Australians speak English but many continue to use Spanish or Portuguese as well.
Indian Australians or Indo-Australians are Australians of Indian ancestry. This includes both those who are Australian by birth, and those born in India or elsewhere in the Indian diaspora. Indian Australians are one of the largest groups within the Indian diaspora, with 783,958 persons declaring Indian ancestry at the 2021 census, representing 3.1% of the Australian population. In 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that 721,050 Australian residents were born in India.
Uruguayan Australians refers to Australians of Uruguayan ancestry or birth who reside in Australia.
Singaporean Australians are Australians of Singaporean descent. As Singapore is a multi-racial country, a Singaporean Australian could either be of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent, the main races of Singapore. According to the 2006 Australian census, 39,969 Australians were born in Singapore while 4,626 claimed Singaporean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain. In the Americas, the term may refer to those of Spanish nationality living there; "Hispanic" is usually a more appropriate term to describe the general Spanish-speaking populations of the Americas together with those in Spain. The diaspora is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire. Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, Belize, Haiti, United States, Canada, the Philippines and the rest of Europe.
European Argentines or White Argentines belong to several communities which trace their origins to various migrations from Europe and which have contributed to the country's cultural and demographic variety. They are the descendants of colonists from Spain during the colonial period prior to 1810, or in the majority of cases, of Spanish, Italians, French, Russians and other Europeans who arrived in the great immigration wave from the mid 19th to the mid 20th centuries, and who largely intermarried among their many nationalities during and after this wave. No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that European Argentinians have been a majority in the country since 1914.
Nigerian Australians are Australian citizens and residents of Nigerian origin or descent. The Nigerian-born form one of the fastest-growing migrant groups in Australia.
Mauritian Australians are Australians of Mauritian descent, or who were born in Mauritius.