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| related = [[Mhallami]], [[Maronites]]
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The '''Chaldeans''' ({{lang-syr|ܣܘܪܝܝܐ}}), also known as '''Syriacs,''' '''Syrians,''' '''Arameans,''' and '''ChaldeansNeo Assyrians''' (see [[names of Syriac Christians]]), are an [[ethnic group]] whose origins lie in ancient [[Mesopotamia]]. They speak, read, and write distinct dialects of Chaldean language [[Eastern Aramaic]] exclusive to Mesopotamia and its immediate surroundings.
Today that ancient territory is part of several nations: the north of [[Iraq]], part of southeast [[Turkey]] and northeast [[Syria]]. They are indigenous to, and have traditionally lived all over what is now Iraq, northeast Syria, northwest [[Iran]], and southeastern Turkey.<ref name="MacDonald">*{{cite journal|author=MacDonald, Kevin |date=2004-07-29 |title=Socialization for Ingroup Identity among Assyrians in the United States |publisher=Paper presented at a symposium on socialization for ingroup identity at the meetings of the International Society for Human Ethology, [[Ghent, Belgium]]|url=http://evolution.anthro.univie.ac.at/ishe/conferences/past%20conferences/ghent.html |quote=Based on interviews with community informants, this paper explores socialization for ingroup identity and endogamy among Assyrians in the United States. The Assyrians descent from the population of ancient [[Assyria]] (founded in the 24th century BC), and have lived as a [[linguistic]], political, religious, and [[ethnic minority]] in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey since the fall of the [[Assyrian Empire]] in 608 BC. Practices that maintain ethnic and cultural continuity in the [[Near East]], the United States and elsewhere include language and residential patterns, ethnically based [[Christian]] [[local church|churches]] characterized by unique holidays and [[rite]]s, and culturally specific practices related to life-cycle events and [[food preparation]]. The interviews probe parental attitudes and practices related to ethnic [[Cultural identity|identity]] and encouragement of [[endogamy]]. Results are being analyzed. |authorlink=Kevin B. MacDonald}}</ref>{{Better source|reason=Kevin is a white supremacist, not an ethnologist, there must be more objective sources for this|date=January 2015}} Most Chaldeans speak an [[Aramaic language#Modern Eastern Aramaic|Eastern Aramaic language]] whose subdivisions include [[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]], [[Chaldean Neo-Aramaic|Chaldean]] and [[Turoyo language|Turoyo]].<ref>The British Survey, By British Society for International Understanding, 1968, page 3</ref>
The Chaldeans are a Christian people, most of them following various [[East Syrian Rite|Eastern Rite]] Churches. Divisions exist between the speakers of [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]], who mostly belong to the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], [[Ancient Church of the East]] and [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] and have been historically concentrated in what is now northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey, and speakers of [[Central Neo-Aramaic]], who traditionally belong to the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and [[Syriac Catholic Church]] and are indigenous to what is now southern Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq.
