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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 147,014 (2023) [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
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| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Asian Americans |
Indonesian Americans are migrants from the multiethnic country of Indonesia to the United States, and their U.S.-born descendants. [3] In both the 2000 and 2010 United States census, they were the 15th largest group of Asian Americans recorded in the United States as well as one of the fastest growing. [4] [5] [6]
The earliest Indonesian immigrants to the United States were Dutch Indonesian or "Indos" who settled in Southern California in the 1950s as refugees following the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch colonists. [7] Indonesian international students came to the United States in significant numbers as early as the mid-1950s, beginning with a 1953 International Cooperation Administration (now U.S. Agency for International Development) program to allow University of Indonesia medical faculty to pursue higher studies at the University of California, Berkeley. [3] Permanent settlement in the U.S. began to grow in 1965, due to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which opened the door to Asian immigration, and the violent and chaotic Transition to the New Order in Indonesia, which spurred emigration from that country. [8] Due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, [7] between 1980 and 1990, the number of Indonesians in the United States tripled, reaching 30,085. [9] A large proportion live in Southern California: 29,710 respondents to the 2000 census who listed "Indonesian" as one of their ethnicities lived there. [8] Indonesia was one of 25 other countries that participated in a special registration program for its emigrants which started in 2002 as a response to the September 11 attacks against the U.S. [7] Following the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, there was another surge of immigrants to the East Coast of the U.S. which included many Indonesians. [7]
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of census respondents identifying themselves as Indonesian (either alone or in combination with other responses) grew by 51% from 63,073 to 95,270. [4] [5] Come 2015, this number has augmented again to 113,000 persons according to the Pew Research Center. [10]
Active lobbying of politicians by Chinese American groups contributed to an unusually high number of successful Chinese Indonesian applicants for political asylum to the United States in 1998 as an impact of the May 1998 riots in Indonesia. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 7,359 applicants were granted asylee status and 5,848 were denied in the decade up to 2007. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly difficult for applicants to prove to immigration officials that they would face targeted violence if returned to Indonesia. [11]
In 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Sael v. Ashcroft that a Chinese Indonesian couple was eligible for political asylum after citing the existence of anti-Chinese violence and of laws that prohibit Chinese schools and institutions. [12] [13] The same court in the following year granted Marjorie Lolong eligibility for asylum after finding that she is "a member of [women and Christian] sub-groups that are at a substantially greater risk of persecution than the [ethnic Chinese] group as a whole." [14] However, the court reversed its findings through an en banc decision and stated that it understood the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) "decision to preclude a general grant of asylum to Indonesian Chinese Christians." The dissenting opinion criticized the BIA's rejection of testimony regarding the Indonesian government's inability to control persecution despite its intentions. [15]
According to estimates from the American Community Survey for 2015–2019, the total population of Indonesian immigrants in the U.S. was 96,200. Of that number, the top 15 counties of residence were: [16]
1) Los Angeles County, California – 13,800
2) San Bernardino County, California – 4,800
3) Orange County, California – 4,600
4) Queens County, New York – 2,700
5) Alameda County, California – 2,700
6) Santa Clara County, California – 2,500
7) Harris County, Texas – 2,500
8) Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania – 2,000
9) King County, Washington – 1,900
10) San Diego County, California – 1,800
11) Riverside County, California – 1,600
12) Contra Costa County, California – 1,400
13) Snohomish County, Washington – 1,300
14) San Francisco County, California – 1,300
15) Maricopa County, Arizona – 1,300
Indonesian Americans are members of various ethnic subcategories such as Malays, Minangkabau, [17] Minahasans, Javanese, Batak, or Tionghoa. [7] The first Indonesians to move to Southern California were Indos (Indonesians of mixed Native Indonesian and European, mainly Dutch, descent). [18] However, the majority of Indonesians who came in the 1960s were of Chinese descent. [19] Unofficial estimates suggest that as many as 60% of the Indonesians in Southern California are of Chinese descent. [20] Interracial marriage is not uncommon, especially among the young, though the elderly often prefer that their children marry other Indonesian or Chinese. [21]
Many second-generation Indonesian Americans still feel a connection to their Indonesian identity through their ancestry despite often not having a complete grasp on the Indonesian language. [22]
Religion of Indonesian Americans [7]
Indonesian Americans belong to many faiths including Protestantism, Catholicism, Sunni Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, although the first three are the most common. [7]
While Islam gains its popularity among Indonesian Americans due to Indonesia being one of the largest Islamic countries in the world, Christianity is the mostly rapidly growing religious tradition among these communities. [23] The first Indonesian church in the U.S. was a Seventh-day Adventist Church established in Glendale, California in 1972 with a predominantly Indo congregation (now located in Azusa, CA); however, as more pribumi migrants joined the church, racial tensions arose, and the Indos withdrew to other churches. The second Indonesian church to be founded in the U.S. was a Baptist church, started by an ethnic Chinese pastor and with a predominantly ethnic Chinese congregation. [24] By 1988, there were 14 Indonesian Protestant congregations; ten years later, that number had grown to 41, with two Indonesian Catholic congregations as well. [25] Catholicism is most present within Indonesian American communities in states like California, Georgia, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania where mass is offered weekly or monthly in the Indonesian language. [7] Many of the Chinese-Indonesian immigrants of the late 1990s were Christian, and chose to flee their mainland due to fear of persecution. [23]
Indonesian Muslims constituted around 15% of the Indonesian American population in the 1990s. [26] The first Indonesian Mosque in the U.S. was the Al-Hikmah Mosque founded in Astoria, New York, which is currently headed by Shamsi Ali. [27] [28] In 2017, the Indonesian Muslim community in Los Angeles purchased a former church at 1200 Kenmore Avenue and converted it into At-Thohir Mosque. [29] [30] There is also an Indonesian mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland named the IMAAM Center. [31] This mosque is very active today through its regular services and community outreach, as it is an important hub for Indonesian Muslim life in America. [26] Many upper class Indonesians have chosen to assimilate more into American culture due to economic and cultural comforts. From the perspective of those within this community, this can be seen as a divergence from the Indonesian Muslim identity. [26]
Roughly one of every eight Indonesian Americans worked as a cook, waiter, or waitress. [32] Restaurants owned by Indonesian Americans are sites for cultural unity over shared meals and traditions. [7]
According to Pew Research in 2019, households headed by an Indonesian immigrant had a median income of $80,000, compared to $64,000 and $66,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively. [33]
Indonesians have founded a number of publications in California. The earliest was the Indonesian Journal, founded in 1988, and published primarily in the Indonesian language. [9] Others include the Loma Linda-based Actual Indonesia News (founded 1996, also in Indonesian), and the Glendora-based Indonesia Media (founded 1998). [9] Los Angeles-based monthly The Indonesia Letter has the largest circulation. [34]
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of its history. In absolute numbers, the United States has by far the highest number of immigrants in the world, with 50,661,149 people as of 2019. This represents 19.1% of the 244 million international migrants worldwide, and 14.4% of the United States' population. In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population.
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.
Vietnamese Americans are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They comprise a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. There are approximately 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent residing in the U.S. as of 2023.
Pakistani Americans are citizens of the United States who have full or partial ancestry from Pakistan, or more simply, Pakistanis in America. They can be from different ethnic groups in Pakistan like Punjabi or Muhajir. The term may also refer to people who also hold a dual Pakistani and U.S. citizenship. Educational attainment level and household income are much higher in the Pakistani-American diaspora compared to the U.S. population at large. In 2019, there were an estimated 554,202 self-identified Pakistani Americans, representing about 0.187% of the U.S. population, and about 2.50% of Asian Americans; more specifically, around 8% of South Asian Americans.
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Indonesians are citizens or people who are identified with the country of Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, making it a multicultural archipelagic country with a diversity of languages, culture and religious beliefs. The population of Indonesia according to the 2020 national census was 270.2 million. 56% live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Around 95% of Indonesians are Native Indonesians, primarily of Austronesian and Melanesian descent, with 40% Javanese and 15% Sundanese forming the majority, while the other 5% are Indonesians with ancestry from foreign origin, such as Arab Indonesians, Chinese Indonesians, Indian Indonesians, and Indos.
Malaysian Americans are Americans of Malaysian ancestry. Rather than a single ethnic group, Malaysian Americans descend from a variety of ethnic groups that inhabit the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, all of which speak different languages and profess different cultures and beliefs, including Malay, Chinese and Tamil, as Malaysian is primarily a national identification. According to answers provided to an open-ended question included in the 2019 US Census, 38,227 people said that their ancestry or ethnic origin was Malaysian.
American Sikhs form the country's sixth-largest religious group. While the U.S. Census does not ask about religion, 70,697 Americans declared Sikh as their ethnicity in the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau cites the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey's estimate of the adult Sikh American population at 78,000. The Pew Research Center estimated the Sikh American adult population to be 140,000 and the total population at 200,000 in 2012 while the World Religion Database at Boston University estimated the American Sikh population to be at 280,000 in 2012. Sikh organizations like the Sikh Coalition and American Sikh Congressional Caucus estimate the Sikh American population to be as high as 1,000,000, but do not provide any sources for these figures; 500,000 nevertheless remains the most cited Sikh American population size. With 1% of Asian Americans being Sikh, and 90.7% of Sikh Americans being Asian American, the American Sikh population can be estimated at around 200,000–300,000 in 2021. The largest Sikh populations in the U.S. are found in California (52%), New York (11%), and Washington (6%).
California is the most populous US state, with an estimated population of 38.9 million as of 2023. It has people from a wide variety of ethnic, racial, national, and religious backgrounds.
The demographics of Asian Americans describe a heterogeneous group of people in the United States who trace their ancestry to one or more Asian countries.
Afghan Americans are Americans with ancestry from Afghanistan. They form the largest Afghan community in North America with the second being Afghan Canadians. Afghan Americans may originate from any of the ethnic groups of Afghanistan.
Kenyan Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Kenyan descent and ancestry. As of the 2021 census, there were an estimated 94,623 Kenyan-born persons living in the United States. Most Kenyan Americans are concentrated in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and the greater Washington, D.C. area.
Indian Americans are people with ancestry from India who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States or migrants of other types. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "American Indians". With a population of more than 5.1 million, Indian Americans make up approximately 1.47% of the U.S. population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans, the largest Asian-alone group, and the second-largest group of Asian Americans after Chinese Americans. Indian Americans have the highest median household income and the second highest per capita income among other Asian ethnic groups working in the United States.
Islam is a minority religion in all of the countries and territories of the Americas, around 1% of North America population are Muslims, and 0.1% of Latin America and Caribbean population are Muslims.
Hong Kong Americans, include Americans who are also Hong Kong residents who identify themselves as Hong Kongers, Americans of Hong Kong ancestry, and also Americans who have Hong Kong parents.
Eritrean Americans are an ethnic group of Americans who are of full or partial Eritrean national origin, heritage and/or ancestry.
Asian Californians are residents of the state of California who are of Asian ancestry. California has the largest Asian American population in the United States, and second highest proportion of Asian American residents, after Hawaii. As of the 2020 US census, there were over 6 million Asian Americans in California; 15.5% of the state's population. If including those with partial Asian ancestry, this figure is around 17%. This is a jump from 13.8% recorded in 2010.
Hokkien, Hoklo (Holo), and Minnan people are found in the United States. The Hoklo people are a Han Chinese subgroup with ancestral roots in Southern Fujian and Eastern Guangdong, particularly around the modern prefecture-level cities of Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen, along with the Chaoshan region. They are also known by various endonyms, or other related terms such as Fujianese people, Hoklo people (河洛儂), Banlam (Minnan) people, Hokkien people or Teochew people (潮州人;Tiê-tsiu-lâng). These people usually also have roots in the Hokkien diaspora in Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Central Asians in the United States are Americans with ancestry from Central Asia. They include Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek individuals. People of Afghan, Baloch, and Uyghur descent are also sometimes classified as Central Asians. The United States census does not mention Central Asians under any category.
Houston has large populations of immigrants from Asia. In addition, the city has the largest Vietnamese American population in Texas and third-largest in the United States as of 2004. Houston also has one of the largest Chinese American, Pakistani American, and Filipino American populations in the United States.
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