African Australians

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African Australians
Total population
380,000
Regions with significant populations
All capital cities;
predominantly Melbourne · Sydney · Perth
Languages
English and languages of Africa
Religion
predominantly Christianity; minority Islam
Related ethnic groups
other African people

African Australians are Australians of African ancestry.[1][2] Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration to Australia. In 2005–06, permanent settler arrivals to Australia included 4,000 South Africans and 3,800 Sudanese, constituting the sixth and seventh largest sources of migrants, respectively.[3]

African Australians are of diverse cultural, linguistic, racial, religious, educational, and employment backgrounds.[4] The majority (72.6%) of African emigrants to Australia are from southern and eastern Africa.[5] The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies all residents into cultural and ethnic groups according to geographical origin, including the many Afrikaner migrants from Southern Africa in the Sub-Saharan region.[6]

Africans may have come to Australia as skilled migrants, refugees, through family reunion, or as secondary migrants from other countries.[7]

History

File:In the laboratory of the Queensland Agriculture and Stock Department's Animal Research Institute , 1962.jpg
An agricultural officer from Ghana visiting Queensland under the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan, 1962

People from Africa, including those of Black African heritage, arrived in Australia with the First Fleet, notable examples are Billy Blue and John Caesar.[8][9] Migrants from Mauritius have been arriving in Australia since before federation in 1901. They came as convicts, prospectors who sought Victoria's goldfields, or skilled sugar workers who significantly helped to develop Queensland's sugar industry.[10]

The Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan enabled students from Commonwealth African countries, including from Ghana, to travel to Australia during the mid-1960s. More than 70 percent of those from West African countries remained in Australia following military coup d'états in their countries of birth.[11] Ultimately, however, immigration from Africa to Australia generally remained limited until the 1990s.

Demographics

Migration streams

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1196 South African Both parents born in Australia.svg
People of South African ancestry whose parents were both born in Australia as a fraction of total residents

The largest number of African immigrants in Australia come from South Africa and are largely of Afrikaner and British descent. Many migrants born in Zimbabwe left the country after major land reforms were begun in the 1980s by the Robert Mugabe government. Two thirds arrived after 2001, following economic uncertainty in their country of birth. Of the Zimbabwe-born migrants who moved to Australia, the largest proportion are of English (30.6%) ancestry, with some individuals of Scottish (7.3%) background present as well. More recent migration from Zimbabwe has included increasing numbers of people of Shona and Ndebele ethnicities.[12]

Other immigrants from Africa arrived via humanitarian programs. In the 2011–2012 fiscal year, these individuals were mainly from Burundi (44/79), Congo (143/158), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (370/454), Eritrea (244/294), Malawi (57/71), Rwanda (44/62), and Tanzania (40/67).[7]

Additionally, other immigrants from Africa arrived through a family migration stream. In the 2011–2012 fiscal year, these individuals were primarily from Ethiopia (412/802), Ghana (152/202), Guinea (33/62), Liberia (82/129), Sierra Leone (106/140), Somalia (164/420), Sudan (313/513), and Uganda (37/67).[7]

File:Libyan embassy, Canberra.jpg
The embassy of Libya in O'Malley, Australian Capital Territory

A significant number of African migrants have come to Australia through a skill migration stream. In the 2011–2012 fiscal year, these individuals were chiefly from Egypt (417/773), Kenya (188/415), Mauritius (228/303), Nigeria (126/250), South Africa (4,239/6,307), Zambia (35/115), and Zimbabwe (467/848).[7]

Some African immigrants have also arrived via a secondary migration from New Zealand, where they are citizens. In the 2011–2012 fiscal year, these New Zealand nationals were mainly originally from Libya (31/76).[7]

Across Australia's major cities, immigration from Africa is varied depending on country of origin. While Egyptian, Nigerian, and Ghanaian migrants overwhelmingly head for Sydney,[13][14][15] Mauritian and Sudanese migrant communities are largest in Melbourne.[10][16]

As of 2013, the Australian Special Broadcasting Service broadcasts in six new languages spoken by the growing migrant and refugee communities from Africa and Asia. Among these are Dinka of South Sudan, Swahili of Tanzania and the African Great Lakes region, and Tigrinya of Eritrea and Ethiopia.[17]

Countries of birth

In the 2015 Australian Census, 380,000 residents declared that they were born in Africa.[18]

Major countries of birth of African immigrants to Australia (2015 Census)
Country Population Main city and proportion who live there
South Africa 104,128 Sydney (27.3%)
Egypt 33,497 Sydney (48.5%)
Zimbabwe 20,157 Perth (24.7%)
Sudan 19,049 Melbourne (31.0%)
Mauritius 18,175 Melbourne (48.6%)
Somalia 10,131 Melbourne (60.1%)
Kenya 9,940 Perth (26.9%)
Ethiopia 5,633 Melbourne (53.9%)
South Sudan 4,825 Melbourne (63.7%)
Nigeria 4,519 Sydney (59.5%)
Eritrea 4,116 Melbourne (65.1%)
Zambia 4,082 Perth (30.7%)
Ghana 2,771 Sydney (51.0%)
Tanzania 1,562 Melbourne (64.0%)

Notable African Australians

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See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. ↑ Australian Year Book 2008
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/mauritius.pdf
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/egypt.pdf
  14. ↑ http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/nigeria.pdf
  15. ↑ http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/ghana.pdf
  16. ↑ http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/sudan.pdf
  17. ↑ http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2012/12/01/sbs-unveils-new-radio-schedule
  18. ↑ 20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex – Australia (2006)

External links

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