The Multi Cultural Melting Pot of Marseille

Because of its pre-eminence as a Mediterranean port, Marseille has always been one of the main gateways into France. This has attracted many immigrants and made Marseille a cosmopolitan melting pot.

Economic conditions and political unrest in Europe and the rest of the world brought several other waves of immigrants during the 20th century: Greeks and Italians started arriving at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, up to 40% of the city’s population was of Italian origin;. Russians and Armenians came also . In the 1920s they were followed by Corsicans . The first wave of what is now a big Moslem population- Arabs from North Africa – came then too .

The Spanish came after the civil war in mid 1930s , Sub-Saharan Africans came after 1945; Jews from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s; and large numbers of Pieds-Noirs ( French Algerians ) from the former French Algeria came in 1962 after the bitter War of Independence there .

Today nearly forty per cent of population of this city of a million people have immigrant routes. The biggest immigrant communities are from Italy , North Africa and Corsica but there are also migrants from the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, Madagascar, and Mauritius, and Vietnam .

Walking the streets of Marseille today these multi cultural influences can be seen throughout the city in its shops, markets and other street life

Destination – France