Total population | |
---|---|
35,000 | |
Languages | |
Tamil, Swiss German, Swiss French, Swiss Italian | |
Religion | |
Hinduism (Majority) Christianity |
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Tamils |
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Tamilportal |
Swiss Tamils refer to the Swiss citizens of Tamil as well as expatriate residents of Tamil origin living in Switzerland. Most of the Tamils in Switzerland are from Sri Lanka, who came to Switzerland during 1980s and 1990s as refugees due to the Sri Lankan Civil War. [1] The Tamils are well integrated in the Swiss society and have proved themselves as a hard-working people and many young Tamils are doing well in school. Tamil values are still strong among the community, social system and arranged wedding are common. [1] The second generation seem to be better integrated than the first generation, but most still follow the old ways. [2]
About 42,000 Tamils are living in Switzerland and 10% of them have been naturalised. [3] This figure does not include most of the second-generation Tamils born to parents with Swiss citizenship. The Tamils in Switzerland live mainly in the German-speaking areas, such as cantons Bern, Zürich and Basel. [4]
The majority of Hindus in Switzerland are Tamils. Between 1990s and 2000s, were around twenty Hindu temples founded by the Tamils. [5] The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple in Zürich is the most famous and largest Hindu temple in Switzerland. [6] Most of Tamil Christians in Switzerland are integrated in Swiss parishes. The majority of Tamil Christians live in the canton of Zürich. [7]
Switzerland was one of the few Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora countries, where the Tamil Tigers could act legally. [8] During the last phase of Sri Lankan civil war, more than 10 000 Tamils protested in front of the United Nations Office in Switzerland. [9]
Nandi, also known as Nandikeshvara or Nandideva, is the bull vahana (mount) of the Hindu god Shiva. He is also the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Almost all Shiva temples display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine.
Hindus are the third largest Religious group in the United Arab Emirates and constitute around 6.6%-15% of the population in the nation. Hinduism is followed mainly by the significant Nepali and Indian population in the United Arab Emirates.
Hinduism is one of Sri Lanka's oldest religions, with temples dating back over 2,000 years. As of 2011, Hindus made up 12.6% of the Sri Lankan population. They are almost exclusively Tamils, except for small immigrant communities from India and Pakistan.
The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil speaking immigrants who emigrated from their native lands in the southern Indian subcontinent to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Arab states of the Persian Gulf, South Africa, North America, Western Europe, and Singapore. It can be divided into two main diasporic clusters, due to geographical, historical and cultural reasons, as Indian Tamil diaspora and Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.
Sri Lankan Tamils, also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan and Tamil diaspora.
Hinduism is a minority religion practised by 0.6% of the population of Switzerland. Approximately 90% of Hindu adherents are foreign-born, and about a third of them have the status of refugee or asylum seeker. The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple, located in the Sihl Valley in Adliswil, is the most famous and oldest Hindu temple in Switzerland, the Arulmihu Sivan Temple located in Glattbrugg is dedicated to Shiva, and the latest foundation is the Sri Vishnu Thurkkai Amman Temple in Dürnten in 2010.
There are about 11,405 Hindus in Norway as of 2019. The majority of Norwegian Hindus are of South Asian descent with around 50% of those being ethnic Tamil Hindus from Sri Lanka.
The Swiss diaspora refers to Swiss people living abroad, also referred to as "fifth Switzerland", alluding to the fourfold linguistic division within the country. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) cares for Swiss people living abroad.
British Tamils are British people of Tamil origin.
Tamil Canadians, or Canadian Tamils, are Canadians of Tamil ethno-linguistic origin. Much of Canada's Tamil diaspora from India and Sri Lanka then majority consist of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who sought to flee the ethnic tensions during the Sri Lankan Civil War between the 1970s and 2000s, while economic Tamil migrants also originate from India, Singapore and other parts of South Asia.
The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple is a Hindu temple located in Adliswil in the Sihl Valley in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland.
Sri Lankans in Switzerland refer to Sri Lankans living in Switzerland. There are about 46,000 to 55,000 Swiss of Sri Lankan origin and Sri Lankan expatriates living in Switzerland. Most of them are ethnic Tamils.
The Sri Lankan diaspora are Sri Lankan emigrants and expatriates from Sri Lanka, and their descendants, that reside in a foreign country. They number a total estimated population of around 3 million.
Kurds in Switzerland are residents in Switzerland of full or partial Kurds origin. The Kurds in Switzerland mainly reside in the Cantons of Zurich, Aargau and Basel-Stadt and are descendants of migrants of refugees from the regions around Pazarcık, Kahraranmaraş or Erzincan. There are also shia kurdish migrants from Iranian Kurdistan, the region around Ilam and Kermanshah along with Feyli Kurds from Baghdad who mainly reside Geneva and Zürich
Tamil German or German Tamizhar refer to the German citizens of Tamil ethnic origins mainly from India in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry then Sri Lanka and Malaysia apart from other parts of the world. Tamil migration to Germany which was mainly composed of higher education and labor migrants increased in the late 1980s and onwards mainly due to the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War which saw tens of thousands of those belonging to the Tamil community fleeing the country and seeking asylum elsewhere abroad. The Tamil population figures in Germany currently range somewhere between 50,000-60,000. Karin Stoll is the consul general at the German Consulate in Chennai.
Tamils in France refer to the citizens as well as expatriate residents of Tamil origin living in France. Over 100,000 Tamils from both Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry now (Puducherry) and then from Sri Lanka also lives in France. This is in addition to the Indian Tamil community established in French overseas dominions of Réunion, Martinique, and French Guiana. There are approximately 220,000 people of Tamil origin in the Department of Réunion. While small in number compared to other ethnic groups, French Tamils represent one of the largest Tamil diaspora communities in Europe, along with the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
The Sri Vishnu Thurkkai Amman Temple is a Hindu temple located in the municipality of Dürnten in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
The Arulmiku Sivan Temple is a Hindu temple located in the municipality of Glattbrugg in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
Tamil Hindus are the Tamil-speaking people who follow Hinduism.