Afghan Canadians
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Total population | |
---|---|
(80,000+[1]) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Vancouver | |
Languages | |
Canadian English, French, Persian, Pashto, and other Afghan languages | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam |
Afghan Canadians are Canadians with ancestry from Afghanistan. Their ethnic origin may come from any of the ethnic groups of Afghanistan. In the Canada 2001 Census about 25,230 Canadians were from Afghanistan.[2] The former Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham has recently said there are about 80,000 people from Afghanistan in Canada.[3] Due to the political borders at earlier times, some of these Afghan immigrants may have been ethnic Pashtuns from British India (present-day Pakistan) or Afghanistan.
They are mostly concentrated in the southwestern region of Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, with significant communities in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal. Afghan Canadians are from various ethnic groups from Afghanistan and are able to fluently speak Dari, Pashto or Turkmen.
In the Canadian Census, Canadians with descent from Afghanistan are classified as West Asian.[4]
Notable individuals
- Hangama - singer
- Vaheed Kaacemy - singer
- Maryam Monsef - Member of Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha; first Afghan-Canadian elected to Canada's House of Commons
- Mozhdah - singer
- Nelofer Pazira - filmmaker and author (Kandahar, Return to Kandahar, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan)
- Waheed Soroor - singer
- Sima Tarana - singer
- Shah Wali - singer
- Hamid Zaher - writer and gay rights activist
See also
References
External links
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