| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 80,606 (2020) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New York, Washington, D.C. area, Greater Los Angeles, Southern California, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, North Carolina, [1] San Francisco, [2] Honolulu | |
| Languages | |
| Zimbabwean English, American English, Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, see languages of Zimbabwe | |
| Religion | |
| Methodism, Anglicanism,Roman Catholic, Reformed Churches, Jewish, , minority: irreligion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Zimbabwean Americans are Americans of full or partial Zimbabwean ancestry. As of 2021, there were approximately 80,606 people of Zimbabwean descent were living in the United States. [3] There are notable populations in Southern California, greater Washington, DC, New York City and Texas.
The first great wave of immigration from Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) took place during and after the Rhodesian Bush War in the 1970s, a time when many white Rhodesian families emigrated due to political and economic conditions. [4] Although initially many emigrated mostly to neighboring South Africa, because they shared a common language and heritage, and the United Kingdom, the former colonial power, subsequently they increasingly emigrated to the United States and Australia, countries that, like the above, shared a similar language and heritage. [5] Following the independence of Zimbabwe from the UK in 1980, these immigrants identified themselves as Rhodesians, united by their shared struggles experienced during the Bush War. [6]
In the 1980s, a second wave of people from Zimbabwe came to the United States, mostly students that preferred to return to their country after completing their studies. This emigration of students was increased in the 1990s and included both white and black people. Due to the high competitiveness in accessing university education in their home country, many Zimbabwean students emigrated to other countries to complete their studies. Most of them sought degrees linked to technology and business. Unlike earlier Zimbabwean students, many in the 1990s decided to live in the United States for good after completing their studies, given the negative economic situation in Zimbabwe and the better job opportunities that they could find in the United States. Thus, the majority of Zimbabweans who have migrated to the United States during the past few decades have been students and young professionals. [7]
In 2014, the Zimbabwean population in the United States was noted as one of "a strong skilled and non-skilled diaspora population" that is also focused in South Africa, the UK and Australia. [8] Thus, Zimbabweans in the United States make up just a small part of the Zimbabwean diaspora compared to the larger communities in South Africa and the United Kingdom. [9] However, in 2020 The United Nations Population Division of recorded the number of Zimbabweans in the US to number 80,606, a figure that notably increased from a decade earlier. [10] Similar to former British territories such as, Australia and South Africa, Zimbabwe was traditionally a destination of immigrants from Europe and Africa beginning in the late 19th century and lasting until the late 20th century. As a result, few Zimbabweans lived in the US prior to the 1990s, with most preferring South Africa, the UK and Australia instead. [11]
There are various conflicting figures on the exact number of Zimbabweans in the US. The RAND Corporation estimated in 2000 that there were 100,000 in the state of New York alone. [12] In contrast, a 2008 estimate from the Association of Zimbabweans Based Abroad put the population of Zimbabweans in the whole US at just 45,000. [9] They make up just a small part of the Zimbabwean diaspora compared to the larger communities in South Africa and the United Kingdom. [9] Many Zimbabweans who emigrate, particularly those with British, Malawian, Portuguese, Greek, and Mozambiquean ancestry hold or are eligible for dual citizenship, which makes determining their exact numbers difficult. [11] Despite this, the vast majority of Zimbabweans identify both with their nationality and country of origin.
The history of Zimbabwean migration to the United States is very recent. Before 1980, the few Zimbabweans that left the country migrated to other the United Kingdom or South Africa. The emergence of socioeconomic problems beginning in the 1990s, led to a small wave of emigration, which included large numbers of well-educated professionals, particularly in finance and the medical field and students who began to seek out the US as an alternative destination. This was followed by a larger wave after 2001, following a protracted economic crisis in the country [13]
Most Zimbabweans find it relatively easy to adapt to life in large cities in the United States, due to their English fluency, skills and a multicultural society that makes it easier to adapt to American life. [14] In addition, the high value that is given to higher education has led many Zimbabwean students to migrate to the United States to continue their university studies there.
Historically white Zimbabweans were concentrated in Los Angeles and Southern California, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Tampa, and Atlanta in 2000. [15] However as the community grew and diversified, most Zimbabweans now tend to reside in the Washington, D.C., area, New York City, Southern California and Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. Other notable centers of the Zimbabwean American population are New Jersey; Greater Philadelphia; the San Francisco Bay Area; Atlanta; Boston, Chicago, North Carolina and Indianapolis. Sharing a similar history, culture and lifestyle, many Zimbabweans and South Africans have formed close bonds in the US and tend to live in similar communities with many forming associations and sharing family ties. [11] Indeed, South Africans and Zimbabweans are among the most skilled and professionally employed immigrants in the US today, with nearly 60 per cent of them holding a bachelor's degree or higher based on a 2005 study. Despite this there are evident economic disparities between long settled citizens and recent arrivals with few ties to North America. [14]
There is an important organization in Indianapolis of Zimbabwean having annual celebrations of Independence Day (April 18) and other events, such as the first Annual Convention and Business Expo Zimbabwe in 2002. Due to the limited success of the Zimbabwean living in Chicago to create organizations (because their community is dispersed through the city), they have formed ties with the organization of Zimbabwe in Indianapolis. [7] Other Zimbabwean association is the Zimbabwe-United States of America Alumni Association (ZUSAA). [16]
A diaspora is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently reside elsewhere.
Rhodesia, officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979. During this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, and in 1980 it became modern day Zimbabwe.
White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They referred to the large-scale migration of people of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. The term has more recently been applied to other migrations by whites, from older, inner suburbs to rural areas, as well as from the American Northeast and Midwest to the milder climate in the Southeast and Southwest. The term 'white flight' has also been used for large-scale post-colonial emigration of whites from Africa, or parts of that continent, driven by levels of violent crime and anti-colonial or anti-white state policies.
White Zimbabweans, also known as Rhodesians, are a Southern African people of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these people of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers. A small minority are either Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Afrikaners from South Africa or those descended from Greek, Portuguese, Italian, and Jewish immigrants.
The South African diaspora consists of South African emigrants and their descendants living outside South Africa. The largest concentrations of South African emigrants are to be found in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. At the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 217,180 residents of England and Wales were born in South Africa. In Australia, there were 189,207 South African-born people living in the country at the moment of the 2021 Census. The 2021 American Community Survey identified 123,461 South African-born residents of the country.
Kurds in the United States refers to people born in or residing in the United States of Kurdish origin or those considered to be ethnic Kurds.
Zimbabwean Britons are British people who were born in Zimbabwe or can trace their ancestry to immigrants from Zimbabwe who emigrated to the United Kingdom. While the first natives of the country then known as Southern Rhodesia arrived in Britain in larger numbers from the late-1960s, the majority of immigrants arrived during the 1990s and 2000s. The Zimbabwean community in the UK is extremely diverse, consisting of individuals of differing racial, ethnic, class, and political groups. There are a diverse mix of asylum seekers, professionals, investors, businesspeople, labour migrants, students, graduates, undocumented migrants, and others who have gained British citizenship.
The Zimbabwean diaspora refers to the diaspora of immigrants from the nation of Zimbabwe and their descendants who now reside in other countries. The number of Zimbabweans living outside Zimbabwe varies significantly from 4 to 7 million people, though it is generally accepted at over 5 million people, some 30 per cent of all Zimbabweans. Varying degrees of assimilation and a high degree of interethnic marriages in the Zimbabwean diaspora communities makes determining exact figures difficult. The diaspora population is extremely diverse and consists of Shona people, Ndebele, white Zimbabweans, mixed-race people, Asians, Jewish people and other minority groups. The diaspora traces their origin to several waves of emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1965, unilateral declaration of independence in Rhodesia, but significantly since the sociopolitical crisis that began in 2000.
There is a significant population of Zimbabweans in South Africa, making up South Africa's largest group of foreign migrants. Estimates of their numbers range from one to five million.
South African Americans are Americans who have full or partial ancestry from South Africa. As of 2021, there were approximately 123,461 people born in South Africa who were living in the United States. There are large populations in Southern California, especially in Orange County and San Diego County, and the Miami, Florida area.
The Greeks in Zimbabwe comprise about 3,000 people of Greek origin, with over half of them from the island of Cyprus. The Holy Archdiocese of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Hellenic Academy, an independent Greek high school was established in Harare in 2008 and continues to operate. Zimbabwe also hosts several Greek Orthodox churches as well as Greek associations and humanitarian organizations.
The history of the Jews in Zimbabwe reaches back over one century. Present-day Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia and later as Rhodesia.
Malian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with ancestry originating in Mali. According to the US Census Bureau ancestry survey, approximately 1,800 Americans stated they had Malian ancestry, making them Malian Americans. The survey did not take into account undocumented immigrants or people who did not participate in the survey, which could mean that many more uncounted Malians live throughout the United States.
During the period of 1965 – 2021, an estimated 440,000 people per year emigrated from Africa; a total number of 17 million migrants within Africa was estimated for 2005. The figure of 0.44 million African emigrants per year pales in comparison to the annual population growth of about 2.6%, indicating that only about 2% of Africa's population growth is compensated for by emigration.
Malawian diaspora refers to Malawian citizens and foreign nationals of Malawian descent who relocate—temporarily or permanently—to foreign countries. There are no reliable figures on how many Malawians live abroad. Populations of Malawians can be found in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Malawians have historically been an important supply of both skilled and unskilled labor to other countries. Malawians were a source of labor to the diamond and gold mines in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa. Many Malawian health professionals have migrated to the Global North in search of employment. The migration of skilled labor has contributed to the brain drain that is affecting many African nations.
Zimbabwean Canadians are Canadian citizens of Zimbabwean descent or a Zimbabwe-born person who resides in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian census there were 16,225 Canadian citizens who claimed Zimbabwean ancestry and 15,000 Zimbabwean citizens residing in the country at the moment of the census.
Emigration from Malta or the Maltese diaspora consists of Maltese people and their lineal descendants who emigrated from Malta. It was an important demographic phenomenon throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, leading to the creation of large diaspora’s concentrated in English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States.
Italian Zimbabweans are citizens or residents of Zimbabwe of Italian heritage. The phrase may refer to someone born in the Zimbabwe of Italian descent, someone who has emigrated from Italy to Zimbabwe, a person with Italo-Zimbabwean heritage or someone born elsewhere, who is of Italian descent and has migrated to Zimbabwe. Italian Zimbabweans form one of the younger communities of the Italian diaspora, largely a product of wartime and post-war immigration.
Afrikaners in Zimbabwe are the descendants of Afrikaans speaking migrants to Zimbabwe, almost all of whom originated from the Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal in modern South Africa. At their peak they formed 10-15% of white Zimbabweans, but only a small fraction of the greater population. Persons of Afrikaans heritage abound in Zimbabwean society particularly in sports such as cricket, rugby, agriculture, tourism, conservation and traditionally, farming, however few are recognized as such, as unlike South Africa the majority of Afrikaner people are now anglophone and seen as indistinguishable from other whites by greater society.
