Assyrians

Assyrians are an ethnoreligious group indigenous to the Middle East, tracing their heritage to the ancient Assyrian civilization centered in Mesopotamia. Today, people who identify as Assyrian, Aramean, Syriac, or Chaldean form communities across the Middle East and in the global diaspora.

Linguistically, modern Assyrians typically speak Neo-Aramaic dialects such as Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, while Syriac remains a liturgical language in several churches. Historically they spoke Akkadian and Aramaic, and their cultural traditions reflect a long manuscript and church heritage.

Historically, the Assyrian people trace their roots to the ancient Assyrian Empire of northern Mesopotamia, which rose in the 2nd millennium BCE and fell in 612 BCE. In the modern era, many Assyrians migrated from the Ottoman Empire and fled persecution during and after World War I, leading to a widespread diaspora.

Religion plays a central role for many Assyrians; they are predominantly Christian and belong to churches such as the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Syriac Catholic Church, among others. A smaller share adhere to other faiths.

Global estimates of the Assyrian population range from about 3 to 5 million. Communities are most numerous in the United States, Sweden, Germany, Canada, and Australia, with smaller populations in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, and a sizable presence in parts of the diaspora.

In contemporary society, Assyrians preserve distinct cultural practices, including music, dance, cuisine, and yearly celebrations such as the Assyrian New Year.