The Armenians in Kuwait are people of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent living in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

. As of 2013, there has been a large population increase and now there are 6,000 Armenians. Before the Gulf War, the Armenian population reached its peak of 12,000.The Armenians of Kuwait: Rebuilding after the Gulf War
But after the Iraqi invasions, the numbers of the Armenians resident in Kuwait greatly diminished to just 500 as they left the country.

History

The first known Armenian presence in Kuwait came in the late 1890s-1900 (

turn of the century Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a distinctive time period either before or after the beginning of a century or both before and after. Ac ...

). The first Armenian families were established in 1947 (Boghos Hovakimian with wife Arousiag their son Hovak was born in 1952 first Armenian born in Kuwait American hospital, Mihran Zakarian and family). At that time there was less than 40 single Armenian men there. Among them were Nerses Shaghzoian, Ashot Babken, and Samuel Galoustian (in the early 1950s) and Hrair Hagopian (in the late 1950s) who had migrated from Iran. The most famous Armenian presence in Kuwait came immediately after the rise of Arab nationalism 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

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

in the 1950s and the 1960s. The first wave of Armenian immigrants to Kuwait were people looking to escape the turmoil in other Arab states. They consisted of engineers and contractors from Iran and also skilled craftsmen from

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who found work in Kuwait’s light industry, auto repair, auto body, plumbing, electrical and service sector. A new influx of young Armenians created the need to establish an Armenian school in Kuwait, which was spearheaded by Vigen Shaghzo (aka Vicken Shaghzoian). In 1960, founders Vigen Shaghzo and brother Arshavir Shaghzo, supported by other prominent members of the Armenian community established Kuwait's first Armenian School and Armenian Apostolic Church. By the mid-1980s, this Armenian population of Kuwait reached its peak of 12,000. During and after

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, the population diminished as Armenians immigrated to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. As of 2013, there are roughly 6,000 Armenians in Kuwait. As a result of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, many survivors were forced to first settle in

the Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equ ...

including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. In 1958, the first wave of

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language ...

appeared in

and Egypt. This did not sit well with the large Armenian communities in these countries. The establishment of the United Arab Republic triggered a mass exodus of Armenians to

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 lie ...

(from Syria) and to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(from Egypt). Some Syrian-Armenians immigrated to Kuwait, when it was still a British mandate then.

Armenians during the Iraqi invasion

In August 1990, Iraq declared war on Kuwait and invaded its tiny neighbour. During this time, many Kuwaiti-Armenians left for neighbouring Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. Other Armenians fled to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

by car, from where they fled to Syria. The remaining Armenians were mostly workers with no way of escaping. During the invasion, the Armenian school and church were shut down and guarded in order to stop looters from attacking the institutions. The Armenian institutions remained unscathed during the war. After the Iraqis were driven out of Kuwait by the coalition forces, the Armenian community had largely diminished to about 500 Armenians. The war also paved the way for a mass exodus of Kuwaiti-Armenians to

n countries such as

and

Re-establishment of the Kuwaiti-Armenian community

The Armenian population of Kuwait has slowly grown since the end of the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. Their population number now is around 2,500. Today, the Armenian school in Kuwait enrolls children from kindergarten to the 12th grade. The school, the only foreign institution which is allowed to incorporate religion into its curriculum, now has nearly 300 students, and a staff of 25 full-time teachers, including 17 Armenians. This is certainly lower than pre-war levels which had enrollment numbers up to 700 students. The Armenian community is slowly rebuilding to try to bring back its better days of the mid-1980s.

Religion

Most of the Armenian population belongs to the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

and is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Cilicia. Kuwait is part of the Prelacy of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf established by the See of Cilicia (also known as the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia), with its head office in Kuwait itself.

References

External links

''Aztarar'', online news of the Armenians in Kuwait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenians In Kuwait