Chinese Americans

The history of the Chinese in America could be traced back to 1781 or even earlier. However, sizeable numbers of Chinese immigrants started to arrive only after 1850. From 1850 to 1882, more than 322,000 Chinese entered the United States. Many (about 14.000) helped to build the transcontinental railroads during the 1860 s. Most settled in California and other Western states.

Worlds War II was a turning point for the Chinese in America. The wartime manpower shortage opened up jobs to minorities. From that time to the present, Chinese Americans have made much economic progress.

Today, about 40,000 Chinese from the Asian mainland arrive in the US each year. As of 2000, there were 2.4 million persons of Chinese origin in the United States, making them the largest Asian ethnic group. The cities with the highest proportion of Chinese Americans are San Francisco, California, Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York.

Indochinese Americans

The Indochinese ethnic group in the US consists mostly of Vietnamese, but also of Cambodians and Laotians. They currently number about 1.5 million, but their heavy immigration in very recent years means that this number is changing rapidly.

The Indochinese are among the most recent immigrants to the United States. The collapse of the South Vietnamese government in 1975 and similar political upheavals in Cambodia and Laos led to the admission to the US of nearly one million Indochinese refugees since 1975, more than 800, 000 of whom were Vietnamese. Prior to this influx, very few Indochinese had immigrated to the US.

Japanese Americans

In 2000 there were an estimated 800,000 persons of Japanese origin in the United States. Japanese Americans are currently the fourth-largest Asian group in the United States. They live mostly in the states of Hawaii and California.

Between 1850 (when the US and Japan first made formal contract) and 1890, 12,000 Japanese came to Hawaii. A much greater immigration followed. In the next 30 years or so, almost 300,000 Japanese immigrated to Hawaii and California.

During World War II, on mainland US, Japanese Americans were forcibly evacuated from the west coast areas considered to be vulnerable to Japanese.

Korean Americans

Koreans are now one of the largest and fastest – growing Asian groups in the United States. In 2000, about 1.1 million people of Korean origin lived in the US.

Koreans are a very recent immigrant group. Ninety percent of the Koreans now living in the US have been here for less than 20 years. Many of the Korean immigrants left Korea (North and South) because they opposed the prevailing governments or because they wanted to avoid the conflict they believed would break out again between North and South Korea.

Mexican American

The modern history of Mexican –US relations begins in the 1820 s, after Mexico gained its independence from Spain. Large parts of what is now the US were part of Mexico until the 1830s and 1840 s.

Today, Mexican immigration continues very strongly. Mexico is one of the largest sources of immigrants to the United States, accounting for a total of 1.6 million new arrivals in the 1980 s. In fact, the 2000-mile-long border between Mexico and the US is the most heavily border in the world.

Today, most Mexican Americans live in the Southwestern states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona and Colorado. This area was originally part of Mexico, so Spanish influence has always been strong. Their language and culture provide the entire region with much of its distinctiveness.

The Native Americans.

The first people on the American continent came from Asia. They came across the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska at various times when the sea level dropped. The first migration . must have been as early as 40000 years ago. When Columbus arrived in the 15th century, there were perhaps 10 million people in North America alone. These were the peoples that Columbus called "Indians". Today there are about 1,5 million Indians in the United States. Poverty and unemployment are major problems, especially on the reservations.

The British.

Beginning in the 1600s, the British settled the eastern part of the North American continent. By the time of the American revolution (1776), the culture of the American colonists (their religion, language, government, etc.) was thoroughly British - with an American twist. In a sense, then, the British culture was a foundation on which America was built. Also, over the years, many immigrants to the U.S. have come from the U.K. and Ireland.