Skokie, Illinois (AINA) -- A flag raising ceremony was held in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, with a population of 68,000, 25,000 of which are Assyrians. The Assyrian flag was added to the flags of other nations in Sculpture Park. The flag will be permanently displayed there.

Skokie is referred to as Little Assyria.

The Assyrian community attended the event along with a host of government officials, community leaders and celebrities. Attending was Skokie Mayor Ann Tennes, Diane Pathieu (an Assyrian) of ABC7 News, Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam, and Maryann Warda, the first Assyrian-American woman Trustee in the Village of Niles.

The Chicago metro area is home to 90,000 Assyrians, the second largest in the U.S., living in north Chicago and northwest suburbs. The Detroit metro area has a population of 100,000 Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs).

The first Assyrians arrived in Chicago after 1915, displaced by the Turkish genocide of Assyrians in World War One. The majority came beginning after 1970.