Chaldeans

Chaldeans historically refer to the inhabitants of Chaldea, an ancient region in southern Mesopotamia roughly corresponding to the southern Babylonian plain and including cities such as Ur and Uruk. The name is linked to the Chaldean people and, in the 7th–6th centuries BCE, to the Neo-Babylonian state often called the Chaldean Empire. Under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II (626–539 BCE) the Chaldeans established a powerful kingdom that dominated southern Mesopotamia until its fall to Cyrus the Great. In classical sources the term was used for Babylonians or people from the Chaldea region.

In modern usage, "Chaldean" also designates a distinct Christian community originating in Iraq. The Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in communion with Rome, traces its heritage to ancient Mesopotamian Christianity and uses the East Syriac Rite. Its adherents are primarily Iraqi Christians from the Nineveh Plain and diaspora communities around the world; many identify as Chaldean, though some prefer Assyrian or Syriac identities.

Linguistically, the term is associated with a Neo-Aramaic language known as Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, spoken by members of this community and part of the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic group. The language exists alongside other Aramaic varieties in the region and diaspora.