Kurds in Lebanon are people born in or residing in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

who are of full or partial

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

origin. Estimates on the number of Kurds in Lebanon prior to 1985 were around 60,000. Today, there are tens of thousands of Kurds in Lebanon, mainly in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

History

Most Kurds in Lebanon have come in recent decades, but the Kurdish community of Lebanon dates back to the 12th century, when Lebanon was ruled by the Kurdish

Ayyubid dynasty The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

. The Ottomans also sent loyal Kurdish families to modern-day Syria and Lebanon, where they got administrative roles. These Kurdish groups settled in and ruled many areas of Lebanon for a long period of time.The first modern wave of Kurdish immigration to Lebanon was in the period of 1925-1950 when thousands of Kurds fled violence and poverty in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The second wave of Kurds entered in the late 1950s and early 1960s, most of whom fled from political repression in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and Turkey. During the early 1990s, the Lebanese government destroyed many squatter quarters in Beirut, where many Kurds lived, leading to the emigration of nearly one quarter of Lebanon's Kurdish population. During the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, Kurds fought for the

Lebanese National Movement The Lebanese National Movement (LNM) ( ar, الحركة الوطنية اللبنانية, ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') or Mouvement National Libanais (MNL) in French, was a front of leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist par ...

Current status

As of 2012, around 40% of all Kurds in Lebanon do not have Lebanese citizenship.

Notable People

Politician

Kamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt ( ar, كمال فؤاد جنبلاط; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the civil war against the Lebanese Front. H ...

, 20th-century Lebanese politician and author; founder of the Progressive Socialist Party *

Taymur Jumblatt Taymur Jumblatt (; born 1982) is a political leader of Lebanon's Druze Community. Biography Taymur was born in 1982. He is the son of the leader Walid Jumblatt and grandson of Kamal Jumblatt. Taymur took over the power from Walid Jumblatt in Mar ...

, Lebanese politician *

Walid Jumblatt Walid Kamal Jumblatt ( ar, وليد جنبلاط; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese Druze politician and former militia commander who has been leading the Progressive Socialist Party since 1977. While leading the Lebanese National Resistance Fr ...

, Lebanese politician

Sports

Hassan Oumari Hassan Noureddine Oumari (; born 11 August 1986) is a football player, coach and futsal player who plays as a midfielder for and is the assistant coach of German club CFC Hertha 06. Born in Germany, Oumari is of Lebanese descent; he represent ...

, Footballer *

Joan Oumari Joan Noureddine Oumari (, ; born 19 August 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Lebanon national team. After playing for eight seasons in Germany, between the fifth and second division, Oumari moved to Turkish ...

, Footballer

Famous Families

Jumblatt family The Jumblatt family (, originally , meaning "steel-bodied" or "soul of steel"), also transliterated as Joumblatt and Junblat) is a prominent Druze family based in the Chouf area of Mount Lebanon that has dominated Druze politics since the 18th centu ...

Sa'b family The Sa'b family is a prominent Shia Muslim family in Lebanon. History The Sa'bs were of Kurdish tribal origin and during the Ottoman era became a leading family (''zu'ama'') among the Shia Muslims of the Jabal Amil area of modern southern Lebanon ...

* Sayfa family * Mir'ibi family * Hamiyeh family

References

External links

The Kurds in Lebanon: a social and historical overview
*
Kurdistan Democratic Party Lebanon
{{Demographics of Lebanon Kurdish diaspora Middle Eastern diaspora in Lebanon Ethnic groups in Lebanon Ethnic groups in the Middle East