(Dutch Indians) (Dutch Indo-Surinamese) | |
Total population | |
---|---|
240,000 (estimated) [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Amsterdam, Amstelveen, The Hague, Hilversum Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Almere, Delft, Haarlemmermeer, Zoetermeer | |
Languages | |
Dutch, Sarnami Hindustani, English, Sranan Tongo, Tamil, Modern Standard Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Punjabi, Sindhi, Odia, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Sinhala, Marathi, other South Asian languages | |
Religion | |
Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, Indian people, Indo-Surinamese, Indo-Caribbean, British Indo-Caribbean people |
Indians in the Netherlands are residents of Indian origin in the Netherlands. The majority of the people of Indian descent in the Netherlands are of Indo-Surinamese origin. [1] More recently the flow of emigrants from India has increased, as well as from Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, mostly those married to Indo-Surinamese.
In 2017, 8,630 Indians immigrated to the Netherlands, making them the second largest recent immigrant group after the Syrians. [2] Most of them were highly skilled migrants working in information technology and information services. [3] Moreover, the number of Indians who came to study in the Netherlands has more than tripled: from 425 migrant students in 2012 to 1,400 migrant students in 2017. Between January and November 2019, 6,322 Indians immigrated to the Netherlands. [4] Nevertheless, Indian migrants often stay in the Netherlands temporarily, as about 45% leave the country within six years. [5]
As of 2019, about 48,724 people of Indian immigrant descent lived in the Netherlands. [6] Most of them live in the provinces of North Holland, South Holland and North Brabant.
From 2016 to 2022 the population of Indians in the Netherlands doubled from 32,682 to 65,399 (Note that this number excludes Indo-Surinamese). [7]
After the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers. Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured labourers, mostly from the modern-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the surrounding regions. [8]
Up until the independence of Suriname in 1975, all the Indo-Surinamese were formally part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and thus owned a Dutch passport. After the independence a significant portion of the Indo-Surinamese population migrated to the Netherlands, thereby retaining their Dutch passport. Currently there are more than 120,000 Indo-Surinamese living in the Netherlands, of which the majority, about 50,000, in The Hague and surroundings.[ citation needed ]
Indo-Surinamese are also known in both the Netherlands and Suriname by the Dutch term Hindoestanen, derived from the word Hindustani , lit., "someone from Hindustan". [9] Hence, when Indians migrated to Suriname they were referred to as Hindustanis, people of Indian origin.
In December 2001, the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora estimated the population of PIOs and Indian citizens at 215,000. [10] According to the Dutch governmental institution Statistics Netherlands (CBS), in January 2016, 32,682 people had their origin from immigrants from India. [11] The Embassy of India states that the Netherlands has the "second largest population of people of Indian origin in Europe (next only to UK)" and that it is "home to about 220,000 Indian and Surinamese Hindustani Diaspora." [12] The Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce & Trade (NICCT) states that there are about 25,000 Indians or persons of Indian origin, excluding the Surinamese Hindustanis. [13]
This is a demography of the population of Suriname, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.
This is a demography of Guyana including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Demographic features of the population of the Netherlands include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the population, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Hinduism is a minority religion in South America, which is followed by even less than 1% of the total continent's population. Hinduism is found in several countries, but is strongest in the Indo-Caribbean populations of Guyana and Suriname. There are about 320,000 Hindus in South America, chiefly the descendants of Indian indentured laborers in the Guianas. There are about 185,000 Hindus in Guyana, 120,000 in Suriname, and some others in French Guiana. In Guyana and Suriname, Hindus form the second largest religion and in some regions and districts, Hindus form the majority. Though in recent times, due to influence of Hindu culture the number of Hindus converts have increased in other countries in South America, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and others.
The music of Suriname is known for kaseko music, and for having an Indo-Caribbean tradition.
Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from India and the wider subcontinent, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. A minority of them are descendants from people who immigrated as entrepreneurs, businesspeople, merchants, engineers, doctors, religious leaders and other professional occupations beginning in the mid-20th century.
Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is a koiné language mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as immigrants to the Caribbean from Colonial India as indentured laborers. It is closely related to Fiji Hindi and the Bhojpuri-Hindustani spoken in Mauritius and South Africa.
Hinduism is the third largest religious group in the Netherlands, after Christianity and Islam; representing about 1.0% of the Dutch population in 2019. After the United Kingdom and Italy, the third largest Hindu community of Europe lives in the Netherlands. There are between 150,000 – 200,000 Hindus currently living in the Netherlands, the vast majority of who migrated from Suriname – a former Dutch colony in South America. There are also sizable populations of Hindu immigrants from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Afghanistan, as well as a smaller number of Western adherents of Hinduism-oriented new religious movements.
Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are nationals of Suriname of Indian origin, who trace their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were indentured workers from British Raj brought by the Dutch and the British to the (then) Dutch colony of Suriname during the mid-19th to the early 20th century. Per the 2012 Census of Suriname, 148,443 citizens of Suriname are of Indo-Surinamese origin, constituting 27.4% of the total population, making them the largest ethnic group in Suriname on an individual level.
The Dutch diaspora consists of the Dutch and their descendants living outside the Netherlands.
According to the official data, the Muslim population of Suriname represents about 13.9 percent of the country's total population as of 2012, which is the highest percentage of Muslims in the Americas. Though the majority belong to the Sunni sect of Islam, there are some Shi'a, and a small population of Ahmadiyyas.
Cape Verdeans in the Netherlands consist of migrants from Cape Verde to the Netherlands and their descendants. As of 2022, figures from Statistics Netherlands showed 23,150 people of Cape Verdean origin in the Netherlands.
Overseas Indonesians refers to Indonesians who live outside of Indonesia. These include citizens that have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Indonesian descent. According to Ministry of Law and Human Rights, more than 6 million Indonesians diaspora live abroad in 2023 this include ex-Indonesian citizens, foreign citizens who are children of Indonesian citizens, and children of ex-Indonesian citizens, illegal and undocumented workers.
Baithak Gana is a form of music originating in Suriname by the Indian community. Baithak is a social gathering. It is a mix of Bhojpuri folk songs with other Caribbean influences. It is similar to Chutney music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The most popular exponent in Surinam of the genre were Ramdew Chaitoe and Dropati.
Overseas Indians, officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are Indians who reside or originate outside of India. According to the Government of India, Non-Resident Indians are citizens of India who currently are not living in India, while the term People of Indian Origin refers to people of Indian birth or ancestry who are citizens of countries other than India. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is given to People of Indian Origin and to persons who are not People of Indian Origin but married to Indian citizen or People of Indian Origin. Persons with OCI status are known as Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). The OCI status is a permanent visa for visiting India with a foreign passport.
Surinamese people are people who identify with the country of Suriname. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Surinamese, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Surinamese.
Portuguese in the Netherlands are the citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal.
India–Suriname relations are the international relations that exist between India and Suriname. Indo-Surinamese form the largest ethnic group in Suriname, making 27.4% of the population. The current President of Suriname Chan Santokhi is of Indo-Surinamese descent.
Hinduism in Suriname is the second-largest religion. According to ARDA, there are 129,440 Hindus in Suriname as of 2015, constituting 23.15% of the population. Suriname has the second largest percentage of Hindus in the Western Hemisphere, after Guyana (24.8%).
The Javanese diaspora is the demographic group of descendants of ethnic Javanese who emigrated from the Indonesian island of Java to other parts of the world. The Javanese diaspora includes a significant population in Suriname, with over 13% of the country's population being of Javanese ancestry. Other major enclaves are found in Australia, French Guiana, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Singapore, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.