Total population | |
---|---|
100,557 [1] (2019 Census) 250,000 +30,000 students General assessments of Bulgarian diplomatic representations in the US (2010) [2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
California, with smaller communities in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Washington | |
Languages | |
Bulgarian, American English | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Orthodox Christianity Minority Atheism, Islam (mainly Pomaks), Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Bulgarian Australians, Bulgarian Canadians, Bulgarian New Zealanders, Bulgarians in South America, Macedonian Americans, Serbian Americans, Romanian Americans |
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Bulgarian Americans are Americans of full or partial Bulgarian descent. [3]
For the 2000 United States Census, 55,489 Americans indicated Bulgarian as their first ancestry, [4] while 92,841 persons declared to have Bulgarian ancestry. [5] Those can include Bulgarian Americans living in the United States for one or several generations, dual Bulgarian American citizens, or any other Bulgarian Americans who consider themselves to be affiliated to both cultures or countries.
Bulgarian Americans include persons born in Bulgaria, in the United States, and in other countries with ethnic Bulgarian population. Because some Bulgarians are not American citizens, others are dual citizens, and still others' ancestors moved to the U.S. several generations ago, some of these people consider themselves to be simply Americans, Bulgarians, Bulgarians living in the United States or American Bulgarians.
After the 2000 U.S. census, the population grew significantly — according to the general assessments of Bulgarian diplomatic representations in the US for 2010, there were 250,000 Bulgarians residing in the country, and more than 30,000 students. [2]
Bulgarian immigration to the United States began in the mid 19th century. [6] According to Mihaela Robila they tended to settle in Slavic enclaves in the Midwest or Northeast. [7] David Cassens has published a study of 'The Bulgarian Colony of Southwestern Illinois 1900-1920'. [8] To Chicago and Back, (Bulgarian:"До Чикаго и назад") by the eminent Bulgarian author Aleko Konstantinov; first published in 1894 mostly concerns attendance at a trade fair, not emigration per se.
The United States has one of the highest numbers of Bulgarians of any country in the world. As many as 250,000 1 Bulgarians live in the country. From the Eastern European countries, Bulgaria has the second highest number of students who study in the United States, after Russia. [9]
The state with the largest number of Bulgarians is Illinois, followed by California, New York, Florida, Ohio, and Indiana. Texas, more specifically Houston, also has a growing population. According to the 2000 US census the cities with the highest number of Bulgarian Americans are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Approximately 60% of Bulgarian Americans over the age of 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher. [10] In 2015, out of 61,377 ethnic Bulgarians born outside the United States, 57,089 were born in Bulgaria, 37 in North Macedonia and 46 in Greece. [11]
Bulgarian Americans have an annual median household income of $76,862. [10] Following the 2000 US census when Bulgarians were 50-100,000, during the last 10 years their number has grown significantly to over 250,000. [2]
Bulgarian-born population in the US since 2010: [12]
Year | Number |
---|---|
2010 | 62,684 |
2011 | 65,202 |
2012 | 64,964 |
2013 | 67,941 |
2014 | 63,318 |
2015 | 67,377 |
2016 | 70,800 |
According to the 2000 US Census, 28,565 people indicated that they speak Bulgarian at home. But in the recent years the number grew significantly to over 250,000 people. [2] Some Bulgarian Americans speak Bulgarian, especially the more recent immigrants, while others might not speak the language at all, or speak Bulgarian mixed with English to a lesser or greater extent.
Some Bulgarian Americans understand Bulgarian even though they might not be able to speak the language. There are cases where older generations of Bulgarians or descendants of Bulgarian immigrants from the early part of the 20th century are fluent in the Bulgarian language as well.
^ Estimates of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad for the numbers of ethnic Bulgarians living for the country in question based on data from the Bulgarian Border Police, the Bulgarian Ministry of Labour and reports from immigrant associations. The numbers include members of the diaspora (2nd and 3rd generation descendants of Bulgarian immigrants), legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, students and other individuals permanently residing in the country in question as of 2004.
Arab Americans are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants from the Arab world. In the United States census, Arabs are a part of the "White" race group because the definition of "White" as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa".
Taiwanese Americans are an ethnic group in the United States consisting of Americans with full or partial ancestry from Taiwan, including American-born citizens descended from Taiwanese migrants.
Egyptian Americans are Americans of partial or full Egyptian ancestry. The 2016 US Census estimated the number of people with Egyptian ancestry at 256,000, most of whom are from Egypt's Christian Orthodox Coptic minority. Egyptian Americans may also include the Egyptian foreign-born population in the United States. The US Census Bureau estimated in 2016 that there were 181,677 foreign-born Egyptians in the United States. They represented around 0.4% of the total US foreign-born population as 42,194,354 first-generation immigrants in 2016. Egyptians are concentrated in New York City and Los Angeles. California has the largest Egyptian population by state.
Burmese Americans are Americans of full or partial Burmese ancestry, encompassing individuals of all ethnic backgrounds with ancestry in present-day Myanmar, regardless of specific ethnicity. As a subgroup of Asian Americans, Burmese Americans have largely integrated into the broader Southeast Asian and South Asian American communities.
New Zealand Americans are Americans who have New Zealand ancestry. According to the 2010 surveys, there are 19,961 New Zealand Americans. Most of them are of European descent, but some hundreds are of indigenous New Zealand descent. Some 925 of those New Zealand-Americans declared they were of Tokelauan origin. The 2000 Census indicated also the existence of 1,994 people of Māori descent in US.
Brazilian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Brazilian ancestry. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates the Brazilian American population to be 1,905,000, the largest of any Brazilian diaspora. The largest wave of Brazilian migration to the United States occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a response to hyperinflation in Brazil. Even after inflation stabilized in 1994, Brazilian immigration continued as Brazilians left in search of higher wages in the United States.
Colombian Americans, are Americans who have Colombian ancestry. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of full or partial Colombian descent or to someone who has immigrated to the United States from Colombia. Colombian Americans are the largest South American Hispanic group in the United States.
Turkish Australians or Australian Turks are Australians who have emigrated from Turkey or who have Turkish ancestral origins.
Belgian Americans are Americans who can trace their ancestry to people from Belgium who immigrated to the United States. While the first natives of the then-Southern Netherlands arrived in America in the 17th century, most Belgian immigrants arrived during the 19th and the 20th centuries.
Ethiopian Americans are Americans of Ethiopian descent, as well as individuals of American and Ethiopian ancestry. The largest Ethiopian American community is in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with some estimates claiming a population of over 200,000 in the area; other large Ethiopian communities are found in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Las Vegas, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Denver, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Columbus, and South Dakota.
Macedonian Americans are Americans of ethnic Macedonian heritage.
Maltese Americans are Americans with Maltese ancestry.
Georgian Americans are Americans of full or partial Georgian ancestry. They encompass ethnic Georgians who have immigrated to the U.S. from Georgia, as well as other areas with significant Georgian populations, such as Russia.
Venezuelan Americans are Americans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela. The word may refer to someone born in the U.S. of Venezuelan descent or to someone who has immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela.
Costa Rican Americans are Americans of at least partial Costa Rican descent.
Ghanaian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of full or partial Ghanaian ancestry or Ghanaian immigrants who became naturalized citizen of the United States.
BarbadianAmericans are Americans of full or partial Barbadian heritage. The 2000 Census recorded 53,785 US residents born on the Caribbean island 52,170 of whom were born to non-American parents and 54,509 people who described their ethnicity as Barbadian. The 2010 US Census estimation report stated more than 62,000 Barbadian Americans are resident in the United States, most of whom are in the area of New York City extending from Rhode Island to Delaware. In past years, some also moved to the areas of Chicago, Illinois, and Boston, Massachusetts.
Bulgarian Canadians are Canadian citizens or residents from Bulgaria or people of Bulgarian descent. According to the 2021 Census there were 33,085 Canadians who claimed Bulgarian ancestry, an increase compared to the 27,260 of the 2006 Census.
Spanish Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a very small group descending from those explorations leaving from Spain and the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and starting in the early 1500s, of 42 of the future U.S. states from California to Florida; and beginning a continuous presence in Florida since 1565 and New Mexico since 1598. In the 2020 United States census, 978,978 self-identified with "Spaniard" origins representing (0.4%) of the white alone or in combination population who responded to the question. Other results include 866,356 (0.4%) identifying as "Spanish" and 50,966 who identified with "Spanish American".