Cypriot Australians
Cypriot Australians are Australian citizens of Cypriot descent or Cypriot born people who reside in Australia. Cypriots in Australia are the second largest Cypriot community outside of Cyprus and Greece. The cultural group is found throughout Australia, with a presence in all state capitals. According to the 2016 Australian Census, there were 28,000 people of Cypriot descent in Australia and 16,929 Cyprus-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census. As of 2014, there are over 80,000 people of Cypriot origin in Australia. Cypriot Australians have lived in Australia since the early 1850s, predominantly residing in Melbourne and Sydney. Since the beginning of the 21st century, education and employment levels of Cypriot Australian individuals have improved, becoming more similar to that of non migrant Australians. The culture and traditions of Cypriot Australians have been maintained overtime. Most Cypriot Australians are of Greek background. Many intermarry with other Greek Australians.
Immigration history
Early years: 1850s–1930s
from the Eastern Mediterranean Island to Australia has been traced back to the middle of the 19th Century, at the time of the Australian Gold Rushes. The earliest Cypriot individuals who migrated to Australia settled into the mining towns of Ballarat and Daylesford in Victoria, North-west of Melbourne. During the 1850s, the population worked mostly as miners and as labourers. With the colonial period of Australia from 1788 to 1901 creating extremely strong bonds between Australia and the United Kingdom, the ceding of Cyprus to the Commonwealth by the Ottomans in 1878 promoted large influxes of Cypriot migration into Australia. During the 19th century, the majority of Cypriot Australian migrants were males who entered Australia aboard British ships as crewmen.By the beginning of the 20th century, many migrants had upskilled and established businesses which existed mostly in Melbourne and Sydney. The Australian census of 1933 estimated that approximately 500 Cypriot born individuals lived in Australia. 8000 Cypriot born people lived in the United Kingdom before the beginning of World War 2. The small Cypriot born population of Australia existed as a result of the presence of the United Kingdom, which attracted the majority of Europe's migrants for all of the 19th century and the majority of the 20th century. The more highly developed infrastructure in the United Kingdom compared to Australia, as well as the close proximity to Cyprus were the primary factors which influenced migrant influxes to the UK as opposed to Australia prior to the second World War.
In 1930, there were no Turkish Cypriot born migrants living in Australia. The first notable influx of Turkish Cypriot migration occurred in September 1947, following the Second World War. Prior to 1940, 3 Cypriot migrants acknowledged Turkish to be their primary language, compared to almost 1000 claiming Greek as their native tongue at the same time. Migration was extremely difficult for many Turkish Cypriots as a result of the implementation of the White Australia Policy. The White Australia policy aimed to disallow any non European migration into Australia. The policies introduced was more accepting of Greek Cypriots from Europe than the Turkish Cypriot population, which had much closer relationships with the middle East than with Europe. In the late 1940s, 66 Turkish Cypriot Australians migrated to Australia, marking the beginning of Turkish Cypriot migration in Australia.
Post World War 2 mass migration: 1940s–1980s
By the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Australian government began to implement a range of legislation and regimes which aimed to promote migration from Europe following the war. The success of many of these schemes caused repeated influxes of Cypriots into Australia over the remainder of the 20th century. The success of these regimes saw the first considerable wave of mass immigration to Australia, as Cypriots began migrate in larger numbers in the 1950s. By 1956, there were 350 Turkish Cypriot and 2000 Greek Cypriot born individuals living in Australia. The two and a half decades following World War 2 saw gradual increases in migrant flows from Cyprus to Australia. The greatest numbers of Cypriot migrants occurred in the middle to late 1970s, following the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus, where 6600 individuals arrived in Australia in the four years following the conflict. 16% of the Cypriot Australian population migrated after 1985, and whilst migration in Australia was once substantial, the rate has slowly declined from 1990 to 2018.Migration in the 21st century
Since the turn of the century, the migration rates from Cyprus to Australia have reduced. The current population of Cypriot born Australians has reduced to approximately 17000 individuals, with this number having exceeded 22,000 in 1990. Education levels and graduation rates as well as literacy and work skill development has improved within Cypriot Australians as time has progressed. The peak of migration from Cyprus to Australia 1970s was largely driven by the turmoil occurring in the nation. During the 21st century, the majority of those who migrate to Australia from Cyprus have been driven by education and work.Culture
The culture of Cypriot Australians has been shaped by the ancient cultures of Greece and Turkey, as well as the Australian culture. Technology and transport in the 21st century have been able to integrate the Cypriot and Australian cultures. The amalgamation of beliefs between cultures in Australia has threatened Cypriot Australians with the loss of strongly held traditions of second and third generation Cypriot Australians. Second and third generation migrants have been decreasingly exposed to the traditions and cultures of Cyprus due to life away from their ancestral land as a result of migration.The Cypriot Australian population has maintained extremely close links with the cultures and beliefs of their 'home' country. Since moving to Australia, the population has faced many threats of cultural loss and disengagement of Cypriot traditions as a result of their migration to Australia. The mass movement of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots into Australia following World War 2 during the implementation of the 'White Australia Policy' threatened many migrants with the loss of their cultural customs and traditions. The range of policies which were enforced for the majority of the twentieth century created a large barrier for migrants practicing their religious and cultural beliefs. Until the complete abolition of the policy in 1973, assimilation programs were set up for migrants with the aim to create a uni-cultural Australia. These assimilation programs, which focused primarily on 'educating' children to understand and accept the Australian culture, disadvantaged non English speaking individuals including Cypriot Australians.
The abolition of such policies has encouraged cultural diversity and freedom within Australia. With Cypriot Australians being restricted in practicing their culture for much of the 20th century, Cypriot Australians of the 21st Century are able to maintain many of the customs and traditions of their ancestral land.
Religion
Religion is central to the lives of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Australians. Religious events such as Easter and Ramadan traditionally require 40 days and 30 days of fasting prior to the event. According to the 2016 census, over 67% of Cypriot Australians identified as Eastern Orthodox Christians, representing 11500 Australians. Another 15% of Cypriot born Australians identified as Islamic individuals, representing 2000 Australians. Cypriot Australians are generally relaxed in their religious practices when compared to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon.In Australia, religion has been maintained more strongly in Cypriot Australians than other Australians, with 8.7% of the Cypriot born population of Australia claiming to have "no religion" according to the 2016 census, compared to the 30% atheist population of non-immigrant Australians.
Language
The main languages spoken by Cypriot Australians are Greek, which is spoken by 63% of the Cypriot born population, followed by Turkish at 17.5% and English at 16.6%. According to the 2016 census, of all Cypriots who claimed their first language to be either Greek or Turkish, 77% stated that they were proficient English speakers. The Greek Cypriot language displays a significantly different dialect to that of the traditional Greek language. Cypriot Greek has a relation to that of the ancient Greek language. Turkish Cypriots speak Turkish, a Turkic language. The traditional Turkish language shares no relationship with the Arabic language. With many Turkish people living in Arabic speaking countries such as Saudi Arabia, many phrases and words have been artificially included.| Greek | Turkish | English | |
| Spoken language | 63% | 17.5% | 16.6% |