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Minorities

Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality	Population (2011)
Morocco	38,884
Turkey	12,805
Bulgaria	1,938
Romania	1,574

In 2010, 36% to 39% of the inhabitants of Antwerp had a migrant background. In the city’s population register 13.3% of the population are registered as foreigners. The two largest non-Belgian communities are the Moroccan and Turkish communities. At least 166 different nationalities are present in the city. The increasing amount of foreign nationalities is an indicator of the recent arrival of new migrant groups. From 2015 to 2016, 72% of the babies born in Antwerp have a foreign background. A study projects that in 2020, 55% of the population will be of migrant background.

Antwerp-population per district 2012

Jewish community

Main article: Jewish Community of Antwerp

Hollandse Synagogue

There has been a Jewish presence in Antwerp as early as the 16th century. The Jewish community remained few in number until the 19th century — Antwerp contained several thousand Jewish residents until the Second World War. Half of the foreign population of Antwerp in the late 1920s were Jewish. After the Holocaust and the destruction of its many Jews, Antwerp became a major centre for Orthodox Jews. At present, about 15,000 Haredi Jews, many of them Hasidic, live in Antwerp. The city has three official Jewish Congregations: Shomrei Hadass, headed by Rabbi Dovid Moishe Lieberman, Machsike Hadass, headed by Rabbi Aron Schiff (formerly by Chief Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth) and the Portuguese Community Ben Moshe. The presence of the Jewish community is noticeable by its clothing, grooming style, and various buildings that relate to the Jewish culture and identity. Antwerp has an extensive network of synagogues, shops, schools and organizations. Tachkemoni, Yavne, and Yesode are three major Jewish schools in Antwerp that have grades starting from preschool through high school. Among the Jewish community, 95% of the children are enrolled in Jewish schools. Significant Hasidic movements in Antwerp include Pshevorsk, based in Antwerp, as well as branches of Satmar, Belz, Bobov, Ger, Skver, Klausenburg, Wiznitz and several others. Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, chief rabbi of the Machsike Hadas community, who died in 2003, was arguably one of the better known personalities to have been based in Antwerp. An attempt to have a street named after him has received the support of the Town Hall and is in the process of being implemented.

Jain community

Main article: Jainism in Belgium

Jain temple in Antwerp

The Jains in Belgium are estimated to be around about 1,500 people. In the late 1950’s-1960’s, several Palanpuri Jain Indian families migrated to Antwerp seeking opportunity in the diamond business, this has now grown to 600 families. The majority live in Antwerp, mostly involved in the very lucrative diamond business. Belgian-Indian Jains control two-thirds of the rough diamonds trade and supplied India with roughly 36% of their rough diamonds. Within Antwerp, Jain community life is centrally located in the suburb of Wilrijk. The first Jain temple on the European continent, as well as one of the biggest Jain shrines outside of India is the Shri Shankheshwar Parshvanath Jain Derasar is located in Wilrijk. It contains a major temple and a cultural centre. Construction for the temple began in the late 90s; the style is a mix of traditional Eastern ideology and religious theology. Mr Ramesh Mehta, a Jain, is a full-fledged member of the Belgian Council of Religious Leaders, put up on 17 December 2009.

Armenian community

Main article: Armenians in Belgium

There are significant Armenian communities that reside in Antwerp, many of them are descendants of traders who settled during the 19th century. Most Armenian Belgians are adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church, with a smaller numbers are adherents of the Armenian Catholic Church and Armenian Evangelical Church.

One of the important sectors that Armenian communities in Antwerp excel and involved in is the diamonds trade business, that based primarily in the diamond district. Some of the famous Armenian families involved in the diamond business in the city are the Artinians, Arslanians, Aslanians, Barsamians and the Osganians.

Muslim community

Antwerp contains a large Muslim community; one out of six of the population is Muslim. As of 2016, roughly 18% of Antwerp’s population was Muslim. In the 1960s, mostly men of Muslim backgrounds from Morocco and Turkey migrated to Antwerp. The Moroccan and Turkish communities are the majority of the Muslim population, yet, there are also Muslims of Balkan, African, Asian and Mediterranean origin. Most Muslims are concentrated in the urban center of the city. As of 2008, there were 36 mosques in Antwerp. It is estimated that 40% of all elementary school children in Antwerp are Muslim. In a report from 2005, 41% of 495 Muslim youths between the ages of 15 and 25 said that they attend mosque at least once a month.

References for Antwerp

Language

Venetian (Vèneto) is a Romance language that derived from Vulgar Latin. Originating out of Latin in the north-east area of the (Italian) peninsula, Venetian grew organically and developed independently. Also known as “dialeto del mar”, which means “dialect of the sea”, Venetian and Latin were the official languages of the Venetian Republic for a thousand years. The Venetian dialect during the times of the Venetian Republic was used in official documents and was also the lingua franca of the Eastern Mediterranean. With over four million people living in Veneto, most people there can understand Venetian, yet only about half or two million can speak the language. Older Venetians use the language as much as possible, while the youth tend to only speak it with their families. Various regional dialects of Venetian are spoken throughout Veneto; four dialects which developed in Venice can be heard in the city to this day. Dialects in present-day Veneto, with the passing of time, have fused towards Venetian. Speakers of various Veneto dialects mostly communicate verbally — it is not taught in school — children generally learn it in their homes. There is no official Venetian writing system, generally the Italian orthography is substituted for writing. The Veneto region has persistently tried to preserve its linguistic heritage by passing several laws. In 2007 the “Protection, development and promotion of the Venetan linguistic and cultural heritage” was passed.