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The term: diaspora (in Ancient Greek, διασπορά – "a scattering or sowing of seeds") is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population who are forced or induced to leave their traditional homelands, the dispersal of such people, and the ensuing developments in their culture.

In the beginning, the term Diaspora (capitalized) was used by the Ancient Greeks to refer to citizens of a grand city who emmigrated to a conquered land with the purpose of colonization to assimilate the territory into the empire. The original meaning was cut off from the present meaning when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the word diaspora being used to refer specifically to the populations of Jews exiled from Judea in 586 BC by the Babylonians, and from Jerusalem in AD 136 by the Roman Empire. This term is used interchangeably to refer to the historical movements of the dispersed ethnic population of Israel, the cultural development of that population, or the population itself. The probable origin of the word is the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 28:25, "thou shalt be a dispersion in all kingdoms of the earth". The term was assimilated from Greek into English in the late 20th century.

The academic field of diaspora studies was established in the late twentieth century, in regard to the expanded meaning of 'diaspora'. Some refugees are part of a diaspora, but the two terms are far from synonymous.

History contains numerous diaspora-like events. The Migration Period relocations, which included several phases, is just one of many. The first phase Migration Period displacement from between AD 300 and 500 included relocation of the Goths, (Ostrogoths, Visigoths), Vandals, Franks, various other Germanic tribes, (Burgundians, Langobards, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Suebi, Alamanni, Varangians), Alans and numerous Slavic tribes. The second phase, between AD 500 and 900, saw Slavic, Turkic, and other tribes on the move, re-settling in Eastern Europe and gradually making it predominantly Slavic, and affecting Anatolia and the Caucasus as the first Turkic peoples (Avars, Bulgars, Huns, Khazars, Pechenegs) arrived. The last phase of the migrations saw the coming of the Magyars and the Viking expansion out of Scandinavia.

The twentieth century saw huge population movements. Partly this was due to natural disasters, as has happened throughout history, but it also involved large-scale transfers of people by government decree. Some diasporas occured because the people went along with, or could not escape, the govenment's plan (such as Stalin's desire to populate Eastern Russia, Central Asia, and Siberia, and the transfer of hundreds of thousands of people between India and Pakistan in the 1947 Partition). Other diasporas occured as people fled the decrees; for example, European Jews fleeing the Holocaust during World war II), and Hutu and Tutsi trying to escape the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

During the Cold War era, huge populations of refugees continued to form from areas of war, especially from Third World nations; all over Africa (e.g., over 50,000 South Asians expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1975), South America (e.g., thousands of Uruguayan refugees fled to Europe during military rule in the 1970s and 80's) and Central America (e.g., Nicaraguans, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Costa Ricans and Panamanians), the Middle East (the Iranians who fled the 1978 Islamic revolution), the Indian subcontinent (thousands of former British colonial residents went to the UK after India and Pakistan became independent in 1947), and Southeast Asia (e.g., the displaced 30,000 French colons from Cambodia expelled by the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot). The issue of untold millions of "third world" refugees created more diasporas than ever in human history.

There is talk presently of a New Orleans, or U.S. Gulf Coast, "diaspora" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina of 2005, if a significant a number of evacuees do not return.

List of notable diasporas

Note: the list below is not comprehensive or definitive, and includes groups that have not been given significant historical attention. Whether the migration of some of the groups listed fulfills the conditions required to be considered a diaspora may be open for debate.

• The Acadian diaspora - the Great Expulsion (Grand Dérangement) occurred when the British expelled about 10,000 Acadians (over three-fourths of the Acadian population of Nova Scotia) between 1755 and 1764. The British split the Acadians between different colonies to impose assimilation.
• Afghan people - fled their country throughout the 20th century and the long civil wars, especially to nearby Pakistan, India and Iran. Since 1980, over half a million Afghans migrated to Europe (many to Great Britain), while a quarter a million went to North America (the U.S. and Canada), and less than 50,000 settled in Australia.
• The African diaspora - Sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, wherever they are in the world beyond the African continent. (See African Americans for blacks in the United States, African Canadians, Afro-Caribbeans and Afro-Latin Americans).
• Albanians - over 3.5 million in Albania, but estimates as high as 17 million ethnic Albanians live worldwide. The largest concentration of Albanians outside the country is in nearby Kosovo, the Serbian part of former Yugoslavia, where a massive ethnic cleansing campaign took place in the late 1990s, when millions were forced out their homes and over 100,000 were murdered. Other historic Albanian enclaves are in Bulgaria, coastal Croatia, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another large area of ethnic Albanians, known as the Arbereshe lived in southern Italy, especially in regions of Abruzzo, Calabria, Campania and Sicily for over eight centuries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, repeated large waves of Albanian emigration took place as millions of Albanians moved to Northern and Western Europe (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.), the former Soviet Union, North America (the U.S. and Canada), Australia and across Asia.
• Arab diaspora - those who have migrated out from the Arab World, and now reside in Western Europe, the Americas (e.g. Detroit has the largest Arab-American community), Australia and elsewhere. (See Arab diaspora, Lebanese and Syrians).
• Armenians - living in their ancient homeland, which had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire for centuries, fled persecution and massacres during several periods of forced emigration, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Many Armenians settled in the United States (a majority of whom live in the state of California), France, India, Iran, Lebanon, Russia and Syria. (See Armenian Diaspora).
• Assyrians - a pre-Arab Semitic Christian population of the Middle East (originally they lived in Syria, as well in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey). In the 20th century, millions of Assyrians left the Middle East due to ongoing ethnic, political and religious persecution. Assyrian communities flourish in the United States, Canada, throughout Europe, Brazil, Africa, India, China, Japan and Australia.
• Australian diaspora - three million Australian expatriates live outside of Australia, mostly business executives and retirees seeking a new place to live. There are large Australian communities in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and North America, and smaller groups in Europe, Africa (esp. South Africa), the Middle East (especially the United Arab Emirates), east and south Asia (esp. Thailand), and Latin America (esp. Argentina.
• Basque diaspora - Basques who left the Basque Country based in northern Spain and southwest France, usually to the Americas (esp. the western U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile) for economic or political reasons. There are also Basque Catholic missionaries across the world, as well Basque fishermen in Canada (Newfoundland), Northern Europe, East Asia, Australia and Oceania.
• Bosnian diaspora - appeared after four years of planned ethnic cleansing in Bosnia (1991-95). It mainly consists of Bosnian Muslims but also out of Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Jews, Bosnian Albanians and Bosnian Roma. Many Bosnians live in USA, mostly in large cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Massachusetts, and Los Angeles, California; and many live in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Switzerland and many other places. (see people of former Yugoslavia).
• Chechens - fled Chechnya during the 1990s insurrection against Russia. The majority of displaced Chechens fled to Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Republic of Georgia, but tens of thousands of Chechen refugees migrated to Europe, North America and across the Middle East. Chechens also has a big diaspora in Jordan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia where they have been since either 1820 or 1890.
• Cherokees - a Native American tribe indigenous to the Southeastern United States, whose official tribal organization is Cherokee Nation based in Oklahoma, United States, which has 800,000 members as of 2005. However, anthropological and genetic experts in Native American studies have argued that there could be over one million more Cherokee descendants scattered across North America (the largest number actually is in California), and perhaps more in smaller numbers in Europe, Latin America and East Asia. The beginnings of the Cherokee diaspora was from their forced removal in the Trail of Tears. Later, thousands of "Americanized" Cherokee farmers were invited to settle across the Americas in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, many Cherokees served in the U.S. Army during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War; some took European or Asian war brides.
• Chilean diaspora - A small but widespread community made mostly of political refugees, especially of the Augusto Pinochet regime fled out of Chile in the 1970s and '80's. The largest overseas Chilean communities are in Argentina, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden and the U.S., but smaller communities in Australia, Canada, Japan, Russia and the Netherlands.
• Chinese diaspora - number over 50 million worldwide. The largest overseas Chinese communities are in Asia. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar (in descending order of ethnic Chinese population size) have at least 1 million ethnic Chinese each. Two countries outside Asia, namely the United States (esp. States of California, Hawaii, New York and Washington State) and Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) have populations over 1 million in size. Other sizeable communities may be found in Japan, Cambodia, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with over 100,000 ethnic Chinese.
• Circassians - fled Circassia - Kabardey, Cherkes, Adigey Republics and Shapsug Area]] 1864 The Darkest Day of Circassian nation .... Exiled 90% of Circassians are by Russian Colonialists to Ottoman Empire or imperial Turkey ... The Circassian Diaspora is over four million worldwide, with large Circassian communities in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Romania, Syria, Russia as well the former USSR, and 100,000 Circassians in North America (the United States and Canada), as well over 10,000 Circassians in Australia.
• Colombian diaspora - over five million Colombians, either displaced by war, left for economic opportunity, and placed in exile to avoid political persecution. The Colombian diaspora lives across the Americas (i.e. the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and South American nations), and across Europe (i.e. Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom).
• Cornish migration refers to Cornish emigrants and their descendants in other parts of England and in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Mexico. The diaspora was caused by a number of factors, but due mainly to economic reasons and the lack of jobs in the 18th and 19th centuries when many Cornish people or “Cousin Jacks” as they were known migrated to various parts of the world in search of a better life.
• Crimean Tatar diaspora - formed after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by Russia, in 1783.
• Cuban diaspora - the exodus of over one million Cubans (the largest community is in Miami, Florida, United States) following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. (See also Cuban Americans).
• Dutch diaspora - the Dutch originally came from the Netherlands (also are called Nederlanders) and their related ethnolinguistic group, the Flemings of Belgium and smaller numbers in Northernmost parts of France. Millions of Dutch descendants live in the United States (Dutch American), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, India (Sri Lanka), Africa (Zaire when it was the Belgian Congo until 1960), the Caribbean (Aruba and Netherlands Antilles which is officially Dutch territory), and South America (Suriname formerly was Dutch until independence in 1975), but Dutch descendants are found in Brazil and Argentina. The four million white (European) Afrikaaners of South Africa are descendants of Dutch, French Huguenot and German settlers brought over to the colonial Dutch East India company in the 16th century (see South African diaspora).
• Fiji Indian diaspora - people of Indian origin left Fiji following the racially inspired coups of 1987 and 2000 to settle primarily in Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada. Smaller numbers have settled in England and other Pacific islands.
• Filipino diaspora - left the Philippines for Japan, Hong Kong (China), Southeast Asia, Australia, Guam and Northern Marianas, the United States (esp. Hawaii and in states of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska - see Filipino Americans), Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the Middle East (the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar). Overseas workers have their own political party in the Philippine Congress.
• French Canadian diaspora - includes hundreds of thousands of people who left Quebec for the United States (most went to New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont), as well as Ontario and Western Canada, between about 1840 and 1930. In addition, since the 1970s Florida and other portions of the Southeastern United States have had sizeable French-Canadian communities, consisting chiefly of retired senior citizens.
• Galicians - left their country for mainly economic reasons to other areas of Spain, and to the Americas (esp. Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States and Venezuela) and later, Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) in the 1950s and 1960s.
• German diaspora - an estimated 100 million ethnic Germans originally from the historic German-speaking homeland of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and includes parts of Belgium, Denmark, France (esp. the region of Alsace), Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. In World War II, the Soviets expelled over 10 million ethnic Germans from the Sudetenland,Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) and former German provinces which were annexed by Poland, Slovakia and the former USSR (Belarus). In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, millions of Germans fled German lands specially to the Americas (i.e. the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Panama and Venezuela) in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other smaller German communities in Africa or the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania), east Asia/ Oceania (China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand), and across the former Soviet Union (i.e. Kazakhstan).
  • The Heimatvertriebene - the ethnic German refugees and expellees from Eastern Europe and from provinces of the former German Reich during and following World War II (see Oder-Neisse line for information on the borders of Germany). Many now live in the western regions of Germany.
  • Mennonites - a Christian religious sect based on the 16th and 17th century Anabaptist movement in Germany and Switzerland in the Protestant Reformation, went extinct in Europe by the late 18th century. Various groups of Mennonites had to migrate to the Americas to find religious freedom. In North America, the old order Amish, Hutterites and Dunkerites in the Northern and midwestern United States like the State of Pennsylvania, and Western Canada live apart from the mainstream world out of voluntary choice. There is a Mennonite colony in Paraguay, South America and there are over a million Mennonite adherents worldwide.
• Gerashi diasporas - The people of Gerashi origin (of Iran) who have migrated to the Arab States of the southern Persian Gulf in search of necessities and basic human rights. It has continued since the early 20th century bombing of the city by Reza Shah and the federal forces.
• Greek diaspora - refers to any ethnic Greek populations living outside the borders of Greece and Cyprus as a result of modern or ancient migrations. There is a Department of Diaspora Affairs in the Greek government. Millions of Greeks live in North America (the United States and Canada), Africa, Australia, the Asian continent, across Europe and the Middle East. Historically Greek enclaves in Turkey and Egypt are nearly abandoned after World War I and Greek-Egyptian migration since 1960.
• Hungarian diaspora - lives in numerous communities across Europe, former USSR, North America and Australia. Historic Hungary extended into parts of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and the Ukraine. For over 300 years, either they migrated west for economic opportunities or as political refugees, such as the failed Hungarian revolution of 1956 against the Communist government, when over 500,000 Hungarians fled the country for asylum in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Brazil.
• Indochinese diaspora - includes the refugees from the numerous wars that took place in Southeast Asia, such as World War II and the Vietnam War.
  • The Vietnamese disapora - fled communist rule in Vietnam following their victory in the Vietnam War (see South Vietnam) went to the United States (see Vietnamese Americans), the migration peaked in the 1980s and 1990's (esp. the largest Vietnamese-American community is in Orange County, California). The Vietnamese also went to Canada, France (and overseas territories), Germany (also the Vietnamese guest workers in the former Communist East Germany), Italy, the Middle East, Australia, and other Asian countries (most went to Hong Kong, when it was a British colony, before the handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997, and Macau, which was under Portuguese rule until the handover to the People's Republic of China in 1999).
  • The wave of Hmong tribes from Laos, Laotians, Cambodians and Thai refugees and economic immigrants (Vietnamese who arrived since 1990) arrived in North America (i.e. the US and Canada), Europe (esp. France), across Asia (most went to Thailand), Oceania (Australia) and South America (concentrated in French Guiana).
• Indonesian diaspora - refers to any ethnic in Indonesia living outside of their homeland, the majority of Indonesian expatriates live in the U.S., Japan, the U.A.E., Australia, and the Netherlands, esp. South Moluccans, a predominantly Christian ethnic group found asylum and religious freedom by the thousands in Holland since the 1950s.
  • Minangkabau diaspora - two of three Minangkabau people live in diaspora. Matrilineal system indirectly caused the diaspora in Minangkabau community. Nowadays, over a million Minangkabau people living outside of Indonesia, mainly in Malaysia and Singapore, but they recently joined the Indonesian emigration to Australia, China, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines.
  • Javanese diaspora - occurred in the Dutch colonial era. Vast numbers of Javanese send to other of Dutch colony as coulies. Most of them send to Suriname, New Caledonia, and East Sumatra, but others live in Europe, North America, the Middle East, South Africa and Australia.
  • Indo diaspora - During and after the Indonesian National Revolution, which followed the Second World War, (1945-1965) around 300.000 people, pre-dominantly Indos, left Indonesia to go to the Netherlands. This migration was called repatriation. The majority of this group had never set foot in the Netherlands before.
• Irish diaspora - consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United States (see Irish Americans), the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, and nations of the Caribbean and continental Europe, where small but vibrant Irish communities continue to exist. The diaspora contains over 80 million people and it is the result of mass migration from Ireland, due to past famines and political oppression. The term first came widely into use in Ireland in the 1990s when the then-President of Ireland, Mary Robinson began using it to describe all those of Irish descent. Notable people of the global Irish diaspora are United States president John F. Kennedy and Chilean liberator Bernardo O'Higgins are of part-Irish descent.
• Italian diaspora - occurred after the unification of Italy in 1861. Vast numbers of Italians (and Sicilians) emigrated to Brazil, the United States (see Italian Americans), Canada, Argentina, Australia, and elsewhere in the Americas (i.e. Chile, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela), Europe (i.e. The UK, Malta, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden), smaller numbers of Italians went to Israel and South Africa, and small Italian expatriate communities once thrived until the mid 20th century (Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey). See also Sicily and Sicilian.
• Jaffnese/Ceylonese Diaspora - refers to the diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamils, especially those post-1983 due to the civil conflict in Sri Lanka. This has created huge Tamil communities in countries such as Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other European countries. In many ways, the Jaffnese Diaspora is compared to the Jewish Diaspora, both historically, socially and economically. It is a subset of the greater Tamil Diaspora.
• Japanese diaspora - Brazil (see Japanese Brazilian), the United States (see Japanese Americans), as well in Peru and Chile, Australia, Canada and Mexico are the countries with the largest numbers of Japanese people outside Japan. However, there are smaller Japanese communities around the world that developed in the late 20th century. The Japanese population used to have nicknames to indicate generational levels: "Issei"-foreign born parents, next is "Nisei"-1st generation born outside Japan or children, and "Sansei"-2nd generation born outside Japan or grandchildren.
  • Okinawans - An Asian people closely related to the Japanese in terms of culture and language, from the island of Okinawa, politically part of Japan since 1878. After WWII, the U.S. briefly ruled Okinawa from 1945 to its' return to Japanese rule in 1972. Since then, tens of thousands of Okinawans settled in the U.S. and in the 1960s, massive settlement programs of Okinawan farmers into Latin America, the majority in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
• Jewish diaspora - in its historical use, refers to the period between the Roman invasion and subsequent occupation of Land of Israel beginning 70 CE, to the establishment of Israel in 1948. In modern use, the 'Diaspora' refers to Jews living outside of the Jewish state of Israel today. There is a 'Ministry of Diaspora Affairs' in the Israeli government, for example. Not all Jews, though, regard themselves as part of a diaspora community.
  • Jewish return to the Land of Israel began massively since the end of the Nineteenth century. By 1947, there were around 600,000 Jews in Palestine. In 1948, in accordence with the United Nations resolution 181, supported by a majority of over two thirds of the general assembly (including both the United States and the Soviet Union), the independent Jewish State of Israel was established.
• Korean diaspora - a people from the Korean peninsula located between China and Japan. The first wave of Korean diaspora was during the Japanese colonial occupation (1910-1945), the peace treaty division of the Korean peninsula into two republics, the Korean War (1950-53) produced a wave of millions of war refugees, fled to the United States, Canada, China, Japan, the Philippines, South Vietnam until 1975, and the USSR, now Russia. Today, Korea remains a politically divided geographic unit. South Korea was under military rule 1953-1987, now a civilian democracy, but economic problems and a sense for adventure made over 500,000 South Koreans emigrate to the United States and Canada, and 100,000 more to Europe, Australia and South America (i.e. Brazil and Argentina). North Korea remains under an isolationist military state under Communism since 1948, while millions of political refugees fled to nearby China for freedom in the late 20th century.
• Lithuanian diaspora - the majority of live in North America (Canada and the United States) and across Europe (France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands), but are scattered across Russia and the former USSR.
• Macedonian diaspora - created by Macedonian refugees from the Republic of Macedonia, to the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Italy, Greece, and many other states. There are approximately 2,000,000 Macedonians worldwide, and Macedonians are a multi-ethnic people, who can be of Albanian, Greek, Jewish, Latin, Roma (Gypsy), Slavic and Turkish origins.
• Maghrebi diaspora - consists of people from the North African countries, notably Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The largest Maghrebi community outside of North Africa is in France, where it is estimated that North Africans make up the majority of the country's Muslim population.
• Mexican Americans - over 20 million people of Mexican background live in the United States, ranging from recent immigrants since the 1970s to long-established Americans of Spanish or Mexican descent. The majority of Mexican Americans live especially in the American Southwest, which borders with Mexico, an area that belonged to Mexico from 1821-1848. They were fundamental to development of the states of Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico in the 20th century. Los Angeles is said the second largest Mexican city, while the populace of San Antonio, Texas is over half of Mexican descent. Also known by other ethnic self-titles, like Chicanos, La Raza, Tejanos, and Californios, however are officially called Hispanics and Latinos in terms of ethnic or cultural origins, but Mexican Americans had a large mestizo or mixed European/Native American heritage.
• Moravian Church - has a nickname "the Moravian Diaspora" named from a religious, not ethnic identity, named for its' foundation in the province of Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. After the 16th and 17th century religious persecution drove the majority base of church membership to other countries, and by the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Moravian church manage to grow, thrive and survive. There are tens of millions of Moravian church members in small communities of: Europe (the Netherlands), the Americas (the United States), Africa (South Africa), east Asia (South Korea), the Indian subcontinent (India), and Oceania (Australia).
• New Caledonia Kanaks - a Melanesian people native to the overseas French territory brought to Australia and New Zealand, and across Polynesia (The French territory of Tahiti) as agricultural workers in newly-founded plantations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most Kanak laborers in Australia were deported back to New Caledonia in the 1910s due to racial fears of Kanaks live among the country's white European-descent majority. Today, an estimated 30,000 Australian descendants of Kanaks live in the state of Queensland, where the main concentration of Australian plantation agriculture took place.
• Palestinians - fled Palestine during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (see Palestinian exodus, Palestinian refugees and Israeli-occupied territories).
• Persian Diaspora - A.k.a. Iranians are a major community in Los Angeles, aka Tehrangeles; 20% of the population is Persian, the major number of Persians in Los Angeles are located in Westwood, aka Little Persia, and 25% of Beverly Hills is Persian or Iranian, even the mayor of Beverly Hills is Persian. Other large Iranian communities exist throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, east Asia and Australia, make up a total of ten million belonged to the Persian/Iranian diaspora, the majority are political refugees who fled the overthrowal of the Reza Shah regime in 1978 and Islamic Revolution of 1979.
• "Polonia" - the diaspora of the Poles started with the emigrations after the partitions of Poland, January Uprising and the November Uprising, enlarged by the Nazi policies, and later by the establishment of the Curzon line. Historic Poland extended into nearby countries: Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. For over 600 years, large waves of Polish emigres, refugees and guest workers moved across Europe, established themselves in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. 19th and 20th century Polish immigration extended into the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Israel and Australia, as well across the former USSR. See also Polish Americans for the tens of millions of Polish descent in the USA.
• The Portuguese diaspora - main countries are in Europe: Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Andorra and the UK. Former Portuguese African and Asian colonies (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, India, Macau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste). Portuguese settled the country of Brazil in Latin America, but Portuguese colonies and communities in the western hemisphere: Argentina, Canada, the Caribbean islands, Chile, Guyana, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela are well noted. See also Portuguese Americans for the diaspora in the United States.
• Puerto Rican diaspora - a mass migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States began during the first half of twentieth century and has become a subject often studied in colleges, because of Puerto Ricans who achieved success in the United States. The largest Puerto Rican communities in the mainland U.S. are New York City, New Jersey and in Florida, but other Puerto Ricans live in all 50 states including Hawaii, and also a smaller community in Canada.
• Rhodesian diaspora. Southern Rhodesia had the distinction amongst Britain's African colonies of being a self-governing Crown Colony. As a result most Southern Rhodesians did not regard Great Britain as home but instead regarded Southern Rhodesia as home, though they did recognise cutural ties to Great Britain. During and following the Bush War (1966–1979, during which period Southern Rhodesia was known as Rhodesia) more than half of the Southern Rhodesians of European descent emmigrated mainly to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Many passed through South Africa during this migration and some recognising their cutural ties to Great Britain emmigrated to England. Northern Rhodesians of European descent also emmigrated to these same destinations, though their migation began earlier when Northern Rhodesia became Zambia in 1964 and was not the result of war but economic pressure. People of European descent also emmigrated from Nyasaland after 1964 and followed the same routes as Northern Rhodesians, for the same reason. See: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
• Romanians - who emigrated for the first time in larger figures between 1910 and 1925, and left in mass after the fall of communist regime in Romania in 1989, and comprise the Romanian diaspora, are found today in large numbers in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Russia, Turkey, the Netherlands, the U.K., China, Japan, Australia, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
• South Asian diaspora - includes millions of people from India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, whose descendants live in Suriname, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, and other countries who left British India in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and millions more who have moved to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates in recent decades (see Desi, British Asian, South Asian American, Indo-Canadian).
  • Indian diaspora - estimated at over 30 million, refers to people originating from India living in other parts of the world.
  • Tamil diaspora - denotes people of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan Tamil origin who have settled in many parts of rest of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Reunion, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, French Caribbean islands, Europe, Australia and North America (US and Canada).
  • Chitpavan Diaspora - Hindu converts of mixed Indian and East European (primarily Jewish) descent who migrated to India centuries ago.
  • The Roma (English terms: Gypsy, Gypsies) - a traditionally 'dispersed' people in Europe, with origins in South Asia (or perhaps, northern India) for 800-some years, are even more 'dispersed' today, following the Holocaust of Nazi Germany. (See Some names for the Roma) Over 10 million Roma live across Europe, the majority in Eastern countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Albania, Greece, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia), and estimates of 250,000 Roma are known to live in North America (the US and Canada).
• Serbian diaspora - from Serbia, former Yugoslavia. Over five million of Serbian descent live around the world, historically based in Serbia, nearby Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and the Ukraine. The largest overseas Serbian communities are in the U.S., followed by Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
• Scottish diaspora - includes the Highland clearances which depopulated large parts of the Scottish Highlands and had lasting effects on Scottish Gaelic culture; the Lowland Clearances which resulted in significant migration of Lowland Scots to Canada and the United States after 1776; the Ulster-Scots, descended primarily from Lowland Scots who settled Ulster during the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century and subsequently fled to the Americas in mass numbers throughout the 18th century due to religious and cultural persecution as well as other socio-economic factors. Other Scots and Ulster Scots went to Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
• Somali diaspora - includes ethnic Somalis who live in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti, as well other parts of Africa. It also includes about 2.5 million people of Somali origin who live in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, and the Middle East as refugees from the civil war. It altogether numbers between seven and nine million. This is almost the same as the population of Somalia itself.
• South African diaspora - mainly consists of South African emigrants of European descent, especially those whose mother tonque (first language) is Afrikaans, who have emmigrated as a result of the high rate of violent crime in South Africa. Another important factor is the current (2007) affirmative action policy of the governing ANC which denies many South Africans of European descent employment. South Africans of European descent whose mother tongue (first language) is English have largely emigrated to Great Britain for the same reasons. There is also a growing middle class in South Africa of African descent, many of whom are starting to emigrate for better prospects, furthering the demographic weight of all South Africans abroad. South Africans have largely settled in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany and Argentina.
• Spanish diaspora - linked to the political and economic emigrants who left Spain during the Francoist dictatorship. Notable communities were established in France, Mexico, the United Kingdom and others.
• Tibetan diaspora - began in 1959 when the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet. Most Tibetan refugees live in the United States, India (home to the exiled Dalai Lama, still the official leader of a nation no longer in existence), and Europe (over 30,000 went to Switzerland).
• Ukrainian migration, represented by Ukrainians who left their homeland in several waves of emigration, settling mainly in the Americas (United States and Canada), but also Australia, east Asia and Europe. Also includes the tens and millions of Ukrainians who migrated from Ukraine to other parts of the former Soviet Union (mainly Russian Federation) during Soviet time.
• White Russian diaspora - named for the Russians and Belarussians who left Russia (the USSR 1918-91) in the wake of the 1917 October Revolution and Russian Civil War, seeking to preserve pre-Soviet Russian culture, the Orthodox Christian faith, and includes exiled former Communist party members, such as Leon Trotsky found exile in Mexico but was assassinated in 1940. The millions of Russian emigres and refugees found new lives in North America (the U.S. and Canada), Latin America, even more went to Europe (The UK, Austria, Belgium, former Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia, Switzerland and former Yugoslavia), some to east Asia (China and Japan), south Asia (India and Iran) and the Middle East (Egypt and Turkey).
  • Ruthenians and Carpathians, self-titles for a Slavic people from the small region of Ruthenia, encompasses easternmost Slovakia, southeast parts of Poland, northern edges of Hungary and westernmost Ukraine, They had preserved a unique ethnocultural identity, but lacked an independent country of their own for almost a millennia. In the late 19th century and again between world wars I and II, over a million Ruthenians fled their homeland and settled across Western Europe (France, Germany and Austria), North America (the U.S. and Canada) and the USSR (Russia), but lesser numbers settled in East Asia (China), the Middle East (Turkey), South America (Brazil) and Australia in the late 20th century.
• Zoroastrian diaspora - two waves; the first took place in the seventh century when the Arabs conquered Persia and those who fled to India became known as the Parsees. In addition, after the Islamic revolution of 1979, several thousand of the remaining Zoroastrians in Iran fled to the United States and the European Union, the largest being in Great Britain.

• Various ethnic minorities from areas under Russian and Soviet control following the Russian Revolution, continuing through the mass forced-resettlements under Stalin.
• Various groups fled in large numbers from areas under Axis control during World War II, or after the border changes following the war, and formed their own diasporas.

• Futuristic science fiction sometimes refers to a "Diaspora," taking place when much of humanity leaves Earth to settle on far-flung "colony worlds."

See also

• Diaspora studies
• Diaspora politics
• Exodus is another Biblical term related to migration, but with a connotation of grouping rather than the scattering of a diaspora.
• Displaced person

External links

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• Diasporas of Highly Skilled and Migration of Talent
• Telugu Diaspora
• Global Culture: essays on migration, globalization and their impact on global culture
• The Indian DiasporaT.L.S.Bhaskar
• The Tamil Diaspora - a Trans State Nation Nadesan Satyendra
• Katrina scatters a grim diaspora BBC
• In Throes of a Diaspora, Two Families Bind New York Times
• Diplomacy Monitor - Migration
• BBC The Cornish Diaspora - I’m alright Jack
• The Cornish Transnational Communities Project
• Overseas Cornish Associations

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