Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more Lebanese living outside Lebanon (over 4 million), than within the country (4 million citizens). The diaspora population consists of Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Jewish. The Christians trace their origin to several waves of emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman empire. Under the current Lebanese nationality law, diaspora Lebanese do not have an automatic right to return to Lebanon. Varying degrees of assimilation and a high degree of inter-ethnic marriages in the Lebanese diaspora communities, regardless of religious affiliation, caused most diaspora Lebanese not to have passed fluency in Arabic to their children although they still maintain a Lebanese ethnic identity. The largest diaspora by far resides in Brazil, with between 5 and 7 million, followed by Colombia and Argentina, with about 1 to 3 million each, but it may be an exaggeration, given that an official survey conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed that less than 1 million Brazilians claimed any Middle-Eastern origin. Demographics Although there are no reliable figures, the diaspora is estimated to be around 4 to 14 million people, far more than the internal population of Lebanon of around 4.6 million citizens in 2020. According to other estimates, the number of Lebanese living outside the country is thought to at least double the number of citizens living inside, which means at least 8 million people. Of the diaspora, 1.2 million are Lebanese citizens. History The Lebanese diaspora has always been a target to the Lebanese state to create institutional connection. In 1960 the World Lebanese Cultural Union was established under the authority of the President Fu’ad Chehab. France has always been an important destination for the Lebanese diaspora, because Lebanon used to be a French colony and because French language is massively spoken in Lebanon. The Lebanese diaspora, while historically trade-related, has more recently been linked to the Lebanese Civil War, with many Lebanese emigrating to Western countries. Because of the economic opportunities, many Lebanese have also worked in the Arab World, most notably Arab states of the Persian Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Currently around 61% of Lebanese citizens resident in Lebanon are Muslim, around 34% are Christian, and about 5% Druze. The Americas have long been a destination for