Year 6 History: Lebanon

One of the world’s smallest sovereign states, the Middle Eastern republic of Lebanon is situated on a long, narrow strip of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia.

"The history of the Lebanese community in Australia can be traced back over 130 years and has evolved with waves of migration over time ..."

Lebanese migration to Australia occurred in the three main waves. The first occurred from 1880 to 1947 when many Maronite, Melkite and Orthodox Christians migrated. They were classified as a Turk due to Lebanon being a province of the Ottoman Empire at that time. Subsequent migration was steady until an influx occurred surrounding the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and the general political and economical uncertainty of the country. Progressively, over the ten years between 1966 and 1976, the Lebanon-born community in Australia grew from 10,688 to 33,424 people.

Lebanese migrants have been settling in Australia from the mid-19th century. By the 1880s sizeable numbers of Lebanese people were finding homes in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

"The Lebanese presence in Australia has been achieved through three successive waves: the first from around 1880 to the 1920s, the second from 1947 to 1975, and the third from 1976, which marked the beginning of the Civil War in Lebanon, to the present ... "