| Jews by country | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
 Judaism portal | ||
The vast majority of Jews in Oceania (estimation 120,000) live in Australia, with a population of about 7,000 in New Zealand (6867,[1] according to the 2013 NZ Census). Most are Ashkenazi Jews, with many being survivors of the Holocaust arriving during and after World War II. More recently, a significant number of Jews have arrived from South Africa, Israel, the United Kingdom and Russia. The official number of people who practised Judaism in the 2001 census was only 121,459 but this number is expected to be much higher, as it did not count those overseas (i.e. dual Australian-Israeli nationals) or many non-practicing Jews who prefer not to disclose religion in the census are more common. Ironically, ever since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia's Jewish population has hovered around 0.5% of the total counted.
The vast majority of Australia's Jews live in inner suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney with smaller populations, in numerical order, in Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide. Currently, there are also recognised communities in Ballarat, Bendigo/Castlemaine, Canberra, Geelong, Gosford, Hobart, Launceston and Newcastle.
In Melbourne, the Jewish population centre is Caulfield where there are streets with nearly a 100% Jewish population; the main areas of settlement spread out from Caulfield in two arcs: south through St Kilda, Elwood, Elsternwick, Brighton, Moorabbin and right down to Frankston; east through Toorak, Malvern, Hawthorn, Kew, Balwyn to Doncaster. In Sydney the major areas of Jewish settlement are in the east and on the North Shore, in particular the suburbs of Bondi, Dover Heights, Rose Bay, Vaucluse, St Ives and Hunters Hill.
In New Zealand, most Jews live in Auckland and Wellington with smaller populations in Dunedin and Christchurch. Dunedin synagogue has possibly the world's southernmost Jewish congregation.[2]
The following is a list of prominent Oceanian Jews, arranged by country of origin.
- ^ "Religious Affiliation (total response)". 2013 Census Data – QuickStats About Culture and Identity – Tables. 2013. Table 31. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ Jews in New Zealand