=== Religion ===
[[File:Syriac Christian Churches.svg|thumb|right|Historical divisions within branches of the Chaldean and Syriac Christian Churches in the Middle East.]]
{{Main|Syriac Christianity}}
Assyrians Since the beginning of Christianity in 30 AD, Chaldeans are the first Christians of the world. Chaldeans currently belong to various [[Christian denominations]] such as the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], with an estimated 400500,000 members,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_41.html#303 |title=Adherents.com |publisher=Adherents.com |accessdate=2013-09-18}}</ref> the Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 9001,500,000 members,<ref>[J. Martin Bailey, Betty Jane Bailey, Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? p. 163: "more than two thirds" out of "nearly a million" Christians in Iraq.]</ref> and the Syriac Orthodox Church ''{{unicode|(ʿIdto Suryoyto Triṣaṯ Šuḇḥo)}}'', which has between 1,000,000 and 4,000,000 members around the world (only some of whom are Chaldeans),<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_622.html Adherents.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> the [[Ancient Church of the East]] with some 100,000 members, and various [[Protestant]] churches, such as the [[Pentecostal Church]] with 25,000 adherents, and the [[Assyrian Evangelical Church]]. While Chaldeans are predominantly [[Christians]], a number are [[irreligious]].
{{As of|2015}} [[Mar Louis Sako]], resident in Baghdad Iraq, was [[Patriarch]] of the [[Chaldeans Catholic Church]], [[Mar Addai II]], with headquarters in Baghdad, was Patriarch of the [[Ancient Church of the East]], and [[Ignatius Zakka I Iwas]] was Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, with headquarters in [[Damascus]]. [[Emmanuel III Delly|Mar Emmanuel III Delly]], the former Patriarch of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], was the first Patriarch to be elevated to Cardinal, joining the [[college of cardinals]] in November 2007.