French diaspora

The French diaspora designates the diaspora from France and their descendants. Countries with significant numbers of members of the French diaspora include the United States, Canada, Australia and several countries of Latin America. As of 2009, it is estimated that the diaspora includes over 30 million people, considerably more than the number of French nationals living abroad, which is around 2 million.

History

Several events have led to emigration from France. The Huguenots started leaving in the 16th century, a trend that dramatically increased following the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes. French colonization, especially in the Americas, was prominent in the late 17th and 18th centuries. At the end of the 18th century, French Emigration (1789-1815) was a massive movement of émigrés mostly to neighboring European countries, as a result of the violence caused by the French Revolution. Later emigration was often associated with economic conditions. From 1847 to 1857, almost 200,000 French people emigrated abroad.[1] From 1821 to 1920, around 121,000 Basques and Bearnese people from Basses-Pyrénées emigrated to America—more than 108,000 from 1835 to 1901.[2]

Between 1848 and 1939, 1 million people with French passports emigrated to other countries.[3] In the Western Hemisphere, the main communities of French ancestry are found in the United States, Canada and Argentina. Sizeable groups are also found in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Australia.

Destinations of French immigrants from 1857 to 1860[4]
Destination Number of immigrants % immigrants
Europe 12,278 23.66%
Algeria 17,823 34.35%
Other countries 456 0.88%
North America 9,999 19.27%
South America 10,252 19.77%
Australia 121 0.23%
Canada 33 0.06%
French colonies 86 0.16%
Other countries 839 1.62%
Total 51,887 100%

Frenchmen abroad from 1861 to 1931[5]
Country 1861 1881-6 1901 1911 1931
Britain 13,000 26,600 22,450 32,000 15,000
Jersey 2,780 - 8,100 8,500 7,000
Belgium 35,000 52,000 56,580 80,000 80,000
Russia 2,479 5,760 8,000 12,000 1,500
Germany 6,429 1,756 20,480 19,000 15,000
Switzerland 45,000 54,260 58,520 64,000 40,000
Italy 4,718 10,900 6,950 8,000 9,000
Spain 10,642 17,600 20,560 20,000 20,000
Total for Europe 128,000 185,000 220,000 269,000 220,000
Egypt 14,207 15,700 10,200 11,500 18,000
Asia (mainly China) 4,000 5,000 7,000 10,000 11,000
USA 108,870 106,900 104,000 125,000 127,000
Canada 3,173 4,400 7,900 25,000 21,000
Mexico - 8,800 4,000 4,000 6,000
Argentina 9,196 20,000 24,100 10,000 40,000
Brazil 592 28,000 12,000 14,000 14,000
Chile 4,650 6,198 17,800 20,000 9,000
Uruguay 23,000 14,300 12,900 9,500 8,000
Total for South America 56,000 92,000 130,000 138,000 113,000
Total for the world 318,000 426,000 495,000 600,000 535,000


List of countries by population of French heritage

Country Population % of country Criterion
French in North America
Canada French Canadian 11,879,715 33.78% Canada 2011 Census[6]
Mexico French Mexican 2,000,000 1.6%

[7][8]

United States French American 11,800,000 4%

[9]

French in South America
Argentina French Argentine 6,000,000 17%

[10]

Brazil French Brazilian 1,000,000 0.5%

[11]

Chile French Chilean 900,000 5%

[12]

Uruguay French Uruguayan 300,000 10%

[13]

Peru French Peruvian 255,000 0,8%

[14]

French in Europe
United Kingdom French British 3,000,000 4.5%

[15]

Belgium Walloons 6,200,000 40%

[16]

French in Asia
India French people in India 12,864 0.001%

[17]

Lebanon French Lebanese 21,428 0.4%

[18]

French in Oceania
Australia French Australian 110,399 0.5%

[19]

New Caledonia French Caledonian 71,721 29.2%

[20]

New Zealand French New Zealander 3,819 0.01%

[21]

French in Africa
Madagascar French people in Madagascar 123,954 0.618%

[22][23]

Mauritius Franco-Mauritian 24,000 2% See the article
South Africa French in South Africa 380,000 2.5%

[24] [25]:18[26] 2,710,461 Afrikaner from which 13.9% are from French mixture

Total in Diaspora ~40,000,000
France French people 66,000,000

[27] [28]

Total Worldwide ~106,000,000

Argentina

See also: French Argentine

From the beginning of the 19th century, to the middle of the 20th century, Argentina received the second largest group of French immigrants after the United States. According to official figures 239,000 Frenchmen immigrated to Argentina from 1857 to 1946 but the numbers are higher as immigration started in the 1820s (they formed the largest group of immigrants to the country until 1854)[29] and lasted until the end of the 1960s. Unlike the United States where the immigration from France was more diverse, half of French immigrants to Argentina were from the Southwestern part of the country. It is now estimated that more than 6 million Argentines have some degree of French ancestry (17% of the total population).[30]

Canada

See also: French Canadian

Canada has the second largest community of people of French descent in the world. 8.5 million Canadians claim French heritage. The French-speaking province of Quebec has the highest concentration of people with French ancestry in the world: 90% of Québécois have French roots.[31] They are also found in large numbers in the province of New Brunswick where a third of the population can trace their roots back to France and in Ontario which is home to the second largest community of French Canadians in the country.

French immigration to Canada dates back to the 16th century, with the foundation of Charlesbourg-Royal in 1541. Tadoussac, the oldest surviving French settlement in the Americas, was established in 1599. From 1627 to 1663, the French population in Canada rose from 100 to 2,500 inhabitants. Within this period, it is estimated that around 1,250 French people immigrated to Canada, most of them coming from the provinces of Normandy, Aunis, Perche, Île-de-France, Poitou, Maine and Saintonge. Between 1665 and 1673, 900 Filles du Roy, half of them coming from Île-de-France, were sent to Canada to get married to farmers and soldiers. In 1760, the colony had a population of 60,000 inhabitants. It is estimated that from 1633 to 1760, an average of 56 Frenchmen emigrated to Canada each year. Between 1608, date of the foundation of Quebec, and 1756, only 10,000 French people emigrated to Canada, most of modern-day French Canadians can trace their roots back to them.

French first settled in Acadia in 1604. In 1667, when the colony went back to France, 441 inhabitants were registered. In 1713, as France ceded the territory to the British Crown, the population had risen to 2,500 Acadians. In 1755, out of a population of 14,000, 7,000 to 8,000 Acadians were deported. Around 1,800 of them fled to Louisiana where their descendants are known as Cajuns.

At the end of the 19th century, French Canadians started to settle in Northeastern and Eastern Ontario, creating the modern-day Franco-Ontarian communities, and in the Prairies. At the same time, immigration from France was encouraged and the country received over 144,000 French immigrants between 1881 and 1980.[32]

Costa Rica

French immigration before the 19th century was scarce.[33] This situation changed over the turn of the 19th century with French migrating mainly from South of France and Bordeaux [34] as a consequence of international trade increase across the Atlantic and the independence from the Spanish Empire.

Official relations between France and Costa Rica began in 1848 in a context of geopolitical stakes for the region as its importance increased as a cross way between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Costa Rica also started to export coffee, and several French emigrants got involved in this activity with The Tournon Company as the leading firm from this community.

  • Basis for current Costa Rican flag - 1848
  • Alliance Française located in Barrio Amón, San José

The 19th-century French emigrants and their descendants, as well as France relevant international role had a lasting influence in Costa Rican society in the cultural, artistic and political fields. For instance, Costa Rican flag design was inspired by the French flag. This strong common ground of values also set the base for 20th- and 21st-century relations between both countries supported institutionally through several organizations such as the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, as well as through the French population in Costa Rica, currently the largest French community in Central America with 2235 habitants.[35]

Chile

See also: French Chilean

The French came to Chile in the 18th century, arriving at Concepción as merchants, and in the mid-19th century, to cultivate vines in the haciendas of the Central Valley, the homebase of Chilean wine. The Araucanía Region also has an important number of people of French ancestry, as the area hosted settlers arrived by the second half of the 19th century, as farmers and shopkeepers. With akin Latin culture, the French immigrants quickly assimilated into mainstream Chilean society.

From 1880 to 1930, around 25,000 Frenchmen immigrated to Chile. 80% of them were coming from Southwestern France, especially from Basses-Pyrénées (Basque country and Béarn), Gironde, Charente-Inférieure and Charente and regions situated between Gers and Dordogne.[36]

Most of French immigrants settled in the country between 1875 and 1895. Between October 1882 and December 1897, 8,413 Frenchmen settled in Chile. At the end of the 19th century, they were almost 30,000.[37]

In World War II, a group of 10,000 to 20,000 Chileans of French descent joined the Free French Forces and fought the Nazi occupation of France.

Today it is estimated that 520,000 Chileans are of French descent.[38] President Michelle Bachelet is of French origin, as was the former dictator Augusto Pinochet. A large percentage of politicians, businessmen and professionals in the country are of French ancestry.

Guatemala

See also: French Guatemalan

The first French immigrants were politicians such as Nicolas Raoul and Isidore Saget, Henri Terralonge and officers Aluard, Courbal, Duplessis, Gibourdel and Goudot. Later, when the Central American Federation was divided in 7 countries, Some of them settled to Costa Rica, others to Nicaragua, although the majority still remained in Guatemala. The relationships start to 1827, politicians, scientists, painters, builders, singers and some families emigrated to Guatemala. Later in a Conservative government, annihilated nearly all the relations between France and Guatemala, and most of French immigrants went to Costa Rica, but these relationships were again return to the late of the nineteenth century.[39]

Mexico

See also: French Mexican

In Mexico, a sizeable population can trace its ancestry to France, which was the second largest European contributor, after Spain. The bulk of French immigrants arrived in Mexico during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

From 1814 to 1955, inhabitants of Barcelonnette and the surrounding Ubaye Valley emigrated to Mexico by the dozens. Many established textile businesses between Mexico and France. Around the start of the 20th century, there were 5,000 French from the Barcelonnette region registered with the French Consulate in Mexico. While 90% stayed in Mexico, some returned, and from 1880 to 1930, built grand mansions called Maisons Mexicaines and left a mark upon the city. Today, there are 60,000 descendants of the French "Barcelonnettes".[40]

In the 1860s, during the Second Mexican Empire ruled by Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico—which was part of Napoleon III's scheme to create a Latin empire in the New World (indeed responsible for coining the term or Amérique latine, or 'Latin America')-- many French soldiers, merchants, and families set foot upon Mexican soil. Emperor Maximilian's consort, Carlota of Mexico, a Belgian princess, was a granddaughter of Louis-Philippe of France.

Many Mexicans of French descent live in cities such as San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Guadalajara, and the capital, Mexico D.F., where French surnames such as Derbez, Pierres, Betancourt, Alaniz, Blanc, Jurado (Jure), Colo (Coleau), Caire, Dumas, Tresmontrels, and Moussier can be found.

Uruguay

See also: French Uruguayan

During the first half of the 19th century, Uruguay received most French immigrants to South America. It constituted back then the second receptor of French immigrants in the New World after the United States. Thus, while the United States received 195,971 French immigrants between 1820 and 1855, 13,922 Frenchmen, most of them from the Basque Country and Béarn, left for Uruguay between 1833 and 1842.[41]

The majority of immigrants were coming from the Basque Country, Béarn and Bigorre. Today, there are an estimated at 300,000 French descendants in Uruguay.[42]

United States

See also: French American

The United States is home to the largest community of people of French descent outside France. According to the last census of 2010, more than 11.5 million Americans claim French ancestry (French and French Canadian combined), i.e. 4% of the total population. French Americans make up more than 10% of the population in New England, through the emigration from Quebec between 1840 and 1930, and in Louisiana, through the French colonization of the region, the relocalization of deported Acadians and later immigration from Saint-Domingue and from continental France. French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States, after English, Spanish and Chinese with over 2 million speakers.

The French American community is made up of several distinct groups, including Huguenot refugees in the Thirteen British Colonies, French settlers in Louisiana, Acadian exiles, French colonists fleeing Saint-Domingue following the Haitian Revolution, and French Canadian immigrants between the 1840s and the 1930s, as well as a steady immigration from continental France since the American Revolution. Around 2 million French people immigrated to the United States, both from France and from the former French colonies in North America.

From 1830 to 1986, 772,000 Frenchmen immigrated to the United States.[43]

Between the 1840s and the 1930s, around 900,000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States, especially in New England. Half of them eventually returned home. Their descendants number 2.1 million people.

See also

References

  1. ↑ L'ami de la religion : journal ecclésiastique, politique et littéraire. [Dans ces dix dernières années] l'émigration française n'a pas atteint le chiffre de 200,000 (page 604).
  2. ↑ Rapports sociaux de sexe et immigration. Environ 121 000 Basques et Béarnais ont émigré en Amérique entre 1821 et 1920 selon Louis Etcheverry et plus de 108 000 pendant la période allant de 1835 à 1901 selon Henri de Charnisay (page 60).
  3. ↑ Possible paradises: Basque emigration to Latin America. In any event, between 1848 and 1939, one million people with French passports headed definitively abroad (page 296).
  4. ↑ Annales d'hygiène publique et de médecine légale. page 194.
  5. ↑ History of French Passions, volume 2. page 89.
  6. ↑ Statistics Canada. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  7. ↑ La tentation mexicaine en France au XIXème siècle. Les colons - 668 au total.
  8. ↑ "Le moment mexicain dans l'histoire française de l'aventure" (PDF). La conséquence de cette émigration fut que, en 1849, les Français représentaient la deuxième nationalité étrangère au Mexique, derrière les Espagnols.
  9. ↑ "Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) - Sample Data; Geographic Area: United States". QT-P16. Language Spoken at Home: 2000. U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  10. ↑ Les merveilleux francophiles argentins 1
  11. ↑
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Uruguay-MIGRATION.html
  14. ↑ http://www.espejodelperu.com.pe/Poblacion-del-Peru/Inmigracion-Francesa-al-Peru.htm
  15. ↑ Wardrop, Murray (2010-04-12). "Britons can trace French ancestry after millions of records go online". The Daily Telegraph. London. The documents disclose that despite our rivalry with our continental counterparts, 3 million Britons - one in 20 – can trace their ancestry back to France.
  16. ↑ SPF Intérieur - Office des Étrangers Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ Countries and Their Cultures - French of India
  18. ↑ Ministère des affaires étrangères : 1 et 2
  19. ↑ "20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia" (Microsoft Excel download). 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  20. ↑ (French)Totalité de ceux se présentant comme « Européens », « Calédoniens » ou « Métis » au recensement de 2009 : il faut y enlever les Métropolitains présents depuis peu sur le Territoire, ainsi que des personnes issues d'autres métissages ou se disant « Calédoniennes » sans se sentir « Caldoches ».
  21. ↑ Tessa Copland. "French - Facts and figures". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  22. ↑ Kevin Shillington, Encyclopedia of African History, CRC Press, 2005, pp. 878–883
  23. ↑ Country Studies US, 'Minorities', http://countrystudies.us/madagascar/15.htm, Accessed: 27 July 2009
  24. ↑ "Census 2011: Census in brief" (PDF). Statistics South Africa. p. 26. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  25. ↑ Giliomee, Hermann (2003). The Afrikaners (1st ed.). London: C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 9781850657149.
  26. ↑ Greeff, Jaco Maree (2007). "Deconstructing Jaco: Genetic Heritage of an Afrikaner" (PDF). Annals of Human Genetics. 71 (5). doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00363.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  27. ↑ The French have equated their nationality with citizenship, regardless of ethnicity or country of residence.
  28. ↑ (French) Bilan démographique 2012 - INSEE (Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques - French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies)
  29. ↑ "Franceses e ingleses: una inmigración influyente". Los franceses representaban en 1854 el grupo mayoritario antes de la gran ola inmigratoria que tuvo lugar en 1857.
  30. ↑ "Canal Académie: Les merveilleux francophiles argentins". Il faut savoir qu’en 2006, 17% d’Argentins ont un ancêtre venu de France. Près de 6 millions d’Argentins ont donc des origines françaises.
  31. ↑ Ethnic groups worldwide. People of French ancestry constitute about 27% [of the Canadian population] (about 90% in the Province of Québec) (page 332).
  32. ↑ "Un siècle d'immigration française au Canada (1881-1980)". (p. 114) Au total, en un siècle, près de 144 000 Français, et sans doute quelques milliers de plus, ont franchi l'Atlantique pour se diriger définitivement ou temporairement vers le Dominion du Nord-Ouest.
  33. ↑ http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/ESPECIALES/raices/raices24.html
  34. ↑ Lemistre Annie, “Amon El Incognito", pag. 26. San José. 2015
  35. ↑ http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/ameriques/
  36. ↑ "La emigración francesa en Chile, 1875-1914". El 80% de los colonos que llegan a Chile provienen del País Vasco, del Bordelais, de Charentes y de las regiones situadas entre Gers y Périgord.
  37. ↑ "La influencia francesa en la vida social de Chile de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX" (PDF). Los datos que poseía el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Francia ya en 1863, cuando aúno se abría Agencia General de Colonización del Gobierno de Chile en Europa, con sede en París, daban cuenta de 1.650 ciudadanos franceses residentes. Esta cifra fue aumentando paulatinamente hasta llegar, tal como lo consignaba el Ministerio Plenipotenciario Francés en Chile, a un número cercano a los 30.000 franceses residentes a fines del siglo.
  38. ↑ "La influencia francesa en la vida social de Chile de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX" (PDF). Los datos que poseía el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Francia en Chile al año 2008, tal como lo consignaba el Ministerio Plenipotenciario Francés en Chile, a un número cercano a los 520.000 descendientes de franceses en Chile..
  39. ↑ Asociación para el Fomento de los Estudios Históricos en Centroamérica (AFEHC) Relaciones entre Francia y Guatemala (1823-1954) Guatemala, 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  40. ↑ "Les Barcelonnettes au Mexique". On estime à 60,000 les descendants des Barcelonnettes, dispersés sur tout le territoire mexicain.
  41. ↑ L'immigration française en Argentine, 1850-1930. L’Uruguay capta seulement 13.922 [immigrants français] entre 1833 et 1842, la plupart d’entre eux originaires du Pays Basque et du Béarn.
  42. ↑ French in Uruguay
  43. ↑ "Perspectives historiques sur l'immigration française aux États-Unis". De 1820 à 1986, 772 000 Français immigrèrent aux Etats-Unis, soit 1.5% du total des immigrants au cours de cette période.
European diasporas
Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Northern Europe
Southeast Europe
Southern Europe
Western Europe

1 Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here.

2 Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace.

3 Azerbaijan and Georgia are transcontinental countries. Both have a small part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus.

4 Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country. Has a small part of its territories located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe.

5 Armenia and Cyprus(Northern Cyprus) are entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.

Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America
See also
Migration of minorities in France (i.e. Basques) can be considered as separate (ethnically) or French migration (by nationality).
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