A 'Diaspora' is actually a group of people who have been dispersed of a larger group from their homeland. In other words, a Diaspora is a group of people or a community who have exited or been removed from their native soil.

The term Diaspora is often described as a scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic milieu.

In easy words, a Diaspora can be described as a group of people who leave their homeland and settle in another part of the world. This movement of these people can happen either by force, or they can move willingly. However, globalisation is considered to be the major reason of such movements or shifts (Diaspora) in this era.

An example of a Diaspora is the 'Bangladeshi Diaspora' - the people of Bangladesh who have moved abroad for different reasons including better living conditions, better education for the children, to escape poverty etc. According to a report published in the Economic Times on 28 November 2019, the United Nations data showed that the Indian Diaspora is the world's largest Diaspora followed by the Mexican Diaspora at second position and the Chinese Diaspora at number three.

The word Diaspora has been taken from the Greek verb 'diaspeirō' that originally is a compound word joining 'dia' and 'speirō' together. 'Dia' means 'between', 'through' or 'across' and 'Speirō' means 'I spread', or 'I scatter'. Thus, 'Diaspeirō' means means 'I scatter', or 'I spread about'.

Useful Readings

Braziel, Jana Evans (2008). Diaspora: an introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Cohen, Robin (2008). Global Diasporas: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-43550-5.
Ember, Melvin; Ember, Carol R. and Skoggard, Ian ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities. ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
Kenny, Kevin (2013). Diaspora: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.