{{ethnic group| |group= Sikhs ਸਿੱਖ |flag = |flag_caption = The Nishan Sahib, flag of the Sikhs |population = 30,000,000 (30 million) |region1= |pop1 = 19,215,730 |ref1 = |region2= |pop2 = 760,000 |ref2 = |region3= |pop3 = 600,000 |ref3 = |region4= |pop4 = 700,000 |ref4 = }} |region5= |pop5 = 100,000 |ref5 = |region6= |pop6 = 70,000 |ref6 = |region7= |pop7 = 70,000 |ref7 = |region8= |pop8 = 50,000 |ref8 =

|region9= |pop9 = 30,000 |ref9 =

|region10= |pop10 = 100,000 |ref10 =

|region11= |pop11 = 20,000 |ref11 =

|region12= |pop12 = 15,000 |ref12 =

|region13= |pop13 = 15,000 |ref13 =

|region14= |pop14 = 12,000 |ref14 =

|region15= |pop15 = 9,733 |ref15 =

|region16= |pop16 = 9,507 |ref16 =

|region17= |pop17 = 8,000 |ref17 =

|region18= |pop18 = 5,890 |ref18 =

|region19= |pop19 = 5,000 |ref19 =

|region20= |pop20 = 4,674 |ref20 =

|region21= |pop21 = 3,000 |ref21 =

|region22= |pop22 = 3,000 |ref22 =

|region23= |pop23 = 2,794 |ref23 =

|region24= |pop24 = 1,200 |ref24 = |rels=Sikhism |scrips=Guru Granth Sahib |langs= ;Punjabi (Gurmukhi): Among the Sikh diaspora English,Sindhi, Hindi, Urdu, Swahili, Malay, Thai and others.

|footnotes = † ''Estimated figure as of 2004.'' }}

A Sikh ( or ; , '''' ) is a follower of Sikhism. It is classified under Indian Religions, primarily originating in the 15th century in the Punjab region of Pre-Partition India. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term ''शिष्य ()'', meaning "disciple, student" or ''शिक्ष ()'', meaning "instruction". A Sikh is a disciple of the Guru.

According to Article I of the "Rehat Maryada" (the Sikh code of conduct and conventions), a Sikh is defined as "any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Sri Guru Gobind Singh; Sri Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru; and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion". Sikhs believe in the equality of humankind, the concept of universal brotherhood of man and One Supreme God (Ik Onkar).

Sikhs are recognized by their 5 Ks. 1) Kesh, hair 2) Kara, steel bangle 3) Kirpan, small sword in a gatra strap. 4) Kashera, specially designed underpants, 5) Kanga, comb under turban. These only apply to Baptised Sikhs. Sikhs are recognized by their distinctively wrapped turban, uncut hair (Kesh), beard and moustache, and they are supposed to wear an iron/steel bracelet (kara). Most men have Singh (lion) and women Kaur (princess) as their surname.

The greater Punjab region is the historical homeland of the Sikhs, although significant communities exist around the world.

Philosophy

The basis of the religion is the union of soul with God. A Sikh disciplines his thoughts and actions so that the five obstacles—lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego—are dispelled and the soul is united with God. Sikhs believe that the cycle of reincarnation is escaped by this union.

Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism. Guru Nanak summed the basis of Sikh lifestyle as: ''Naam Japo'', ''Kirat Karni'' and ''Wand kay Shako'', which means meditate on the holy name (Waheguru), work diligently and honestly, and share one's fruits. The guiding principles of the Sikh faith are Truth, Equality, Freedom, Justice, and Karma.

The Sikhs revere Sri Guru Granth Sahib as their supreme teacher. The tenth Guru appointed Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the final and eternal Guru of the Sikhs. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is revered by Sikhs as their supreme guide. Non-Sikhs can take part fully in Sikh ceremonies, prayer meetings, and social functions. Their daily prayers include the well-being of all of mankind.

Sikhism can be considered one of the more universal religions. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib, in addition to the revelations of the Sikh gurus, contains revelations of various saints and sages of that period. The opening hymn of the holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib expounds the nature and attributes of God:

Sikhs are not required to renounce the world. They aspire to live the life of a householder. Seva (selfless service) is an integral part of Sikh worship, very easily observed in the Gurdwara. Visitors of any religious or socio-economic background are welcomed, where langar (food for all) is always served and is another way to break the caste system (as observed by Hindus) by serving people of all origins the same (vegetarian) food, while sitting together on the same level of the floor.

Protecting the religious and political rights of all people and preventing discrimination is an integral part of the Sikh faith. The 5th Guru Arjan Dev was martyred by the Mughal ruler Jahangir on May 16, 1606. The martyrdom of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji 9th Guru to protect Hindus from religious persecution, in Delhi, on 11 November 1675 AD, is another example of upholding minority religious freedom.He gave his life to protect freedom of worship for all religions mainly Hindu, when Hindu Pandits (priests) came to ask for help

People revered by Sikhs also include:

Bhai Mardana: one of the first followers and lifelong companion of Guru Nanak

Bhai Bala: one of the first followers and lifelong companion of Guru Nanak

Baba Buddha: Sikh saint, held the position of high Granthi in the Sikh religion, conducted the ceremony of guruship of the second guru up to the sixth guru, oversaw the construction of the Akal Takht

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur: fought and defeated the Mughal Governor of Punjab, Wazir Khan, and established a Sikh force in Punjab

Baba Deep Singh: Sikh saint, defended Golden Temple with his head in his hand, first head of the Damdami Taksal

Bhai Mani Singh: Sikh scholar, compiled the Dasam Granth

Bhai Taru Singh: a patron of the poor

Bhai Gurdas: known for his interpretation of Bani and his works (vaars)

Bhai Kanhaiya: known for starting the first action of Red Cross

Bhai Mati Das: known for sacrificing his life for the right of faith

Bhai Sati Das: known for sacrificing his life for the right of faith

Bhai Dayala: known for sacrificing his life for the right of faith

Bhai Bachittar Singh: known for sacrificing his life in battle in bravery, by putting a spear through an intoxicated elephant which was covered in armour

Early Sikh scholars included Bhai Santokh Singh, Bhai Vir Singh and Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha.
(Sant Baba Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale): 14th head of the damdami taksal .

Teachings

Sikhism believes in one supreme being which is real and immanent and only experienceable in this creation, technically there is nothing in this creation which is devoid of it and distinct of it. The Sikh school of thought started by Guru Nanak teaches gender and race equality, sharing, working hard and being honest, contentment, selfless service, talking sweetly, worshiping naam, good etiquette, tradition, prayer, meditation on teachings, the concept of miri-piri, the concept of the saint-soldier/warrior, remembering God all the time in all actions, keeping in good company, proper sexual conduct, the life of a householder instead of becoming a celibate monk or rejecting the world, compassion, faith, justice, mastery, righteous actions, bravery, courage, love for God, humility, salvation, the afterlife, the law of karma (karma) which is counteracted by dharma (dharma), charity, and good will to humanity. It also teaches God's omnipresence, transcendence, omnipotence, and omniscience. It also revolves around the belief in reincarnation. Emphasis is on ethics, morality, and values; the Sikh faith does not accept miracles. Actually Sikh people, those who claim to be Sikhs, does not accept miracle. Otherwise Guru Nanak Dev Ji stopping a large Stone was a miracle, change the taste of Reethas was miracle, testing Bhai Lehnna Ji, Baba Budhdha Ji & Mardana by asking to eat flesh but then turning it into Karah was a miracle, the storm after Guru Arjan Dev Ji's shaheedi was a miracle, 1699 visakhi was a miracle, Baba Deep Singh Ji fighting beheaded was miracle, Shaheedi of Bhai Mati Das, Sati Das, Bhai Taru Singh Ji, Bhai Mani Singh Ji was a miracle. Miracles are prohibitted for Sikh sangat to stay away from pompus. But biding Guru Sahibaad by this is a folish thing as one side we are claiming they can do anything, another side saying they cannot do miracle to save Sikhism. The Sikh school of thought believes in reincarnation based on the foundation of Karma - hell and heaven is all to be experienced right here in this life. In fact the 9th Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded by the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb as he refused to embrace Islam as well as perform a miracle to justify his holiness and sanctity as a religious leader. As well as believing in an omnipresent God(immanent supreme being), there are numerous references to supernatural beings like angels, demons, and demigods as well as references to otherworldly planes of existence in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.

Devout Sikhs say 5 prayers(they are strictly not prayers but actually lessons) in the morning between 1am-6am (the 5 prayers can be said in succession within 1 hour for the well-versed) (Japji, Anand Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye, Chaupai and Ardas), 1 prayer in evening from 5-7pm (Rehras and Ardas) and 1 before sleeping, around 8-10pm (Kirtan Sohila and Ardas).

Sikh scriptures teach the concept of moderation, exhorting followers to eat little, sleep little, talk little, consume as little as possible (not to extremes, but in the middle way) and to live pious saintly lives as well as the life of a warrior (understanding the greatest battle is within). Sikhism teaches a person to remove (the Five Evils): (kaam (kam)), krodh, lobh, moh and ahankar) ego (see also Ego (spirituality)), pride, raging anger, sexual lust, worldly attachment, and greed, and to oppose hedonism as well as materialism and indulging one's appetites.

Guru Nanak sought to improve the status of women by spreading this message: "From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? when she gives rise to nobility. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman." (page 473). In so doing, he promoted women's rights and equality, a remarkable stance in the 15th century which was actually brought into practice by Guru Nanak and following 9 Gurus. Sikhism teaches the Hierarchy of the master and the student as one and the same: a great student is the master's master, an idea which was in place in the western world after the French Revolution. This concept of a democratic society was in place in Sikhism as early as the 17th century.

Sikhism teaches that all of humanity was created by the same God, which is addressed by many names and understood differently. Sikhism teaches to respect all other religions (tolerance) and that one should defend the rights of not just one's own religion, but the religion and faith of others, as a human right. At the end of every Sikh prayer is a supplication for the welfare of all of humanity.

Sikhism believes in the concept of a human Soul (Self (spirituality) or consciousness or spirit or astral body). Sikhs believe they can unite and become one with God in this life, as the consciousness merges with God (Supreme Consciousness) through truthful living and actions and is only a matter of realization. Sikhs always greet each other with the words "Sat Sri Akaal" which literally means "Truth is Time-less being". Truth, truthful living, equality, freedom and justice are the core principles of Sikh philosophy.

Guru Gobind Singh infused a new spirit into the community by creating the Khalsa brotherhood - or the "pure brotherhood". Khalsa Sikhs do not cut their hair kes, this being covered with a turban: the idea is that humans are made in the image of God, to honor God. Thus a person's intact hair is a symbol of honor, warriorhood, saintliness and radiance/aura and an acceptance of the natural form of our bodies, allowing believers to be at peace with themselves at all times and to get rid of vanity relating to outward appearance. Wearing a turban and a distinct identity also made the Sikhs very easily recognizable and in periods of extreme religious persecution by the Mughal rulers, Sikhs were repeatedly massacred in large number. Sikh history is built on examples of brave men and women who defended an ideology built on the fundamentals of human rights and equality of all human beings. For more than 300 years the Sikhs were persecuted endlessly. The Sikh human rights struggle morphed into a political struggle which was one of the dominant causes of the fall of the Mughal empire in India and led to the formation of the strongest kingdom in India before being annexed by the British in 1849. Yet at the peak of their political power the Sikhs under the great Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a large powerful kingdom centered in Lahore which was also secular and egalitarian.

An example of Sikhism's commitment to tolerance is the fact that the foundation stone of the holiest shrine of the Sikhs—Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar also known as the Golden Temple—was laid not by the many eminent Sikh leaders or the 4th Sikh Guru Ramdas who was the leader of the Sikhs at that time, but by a Sufi by the name of Sain Mian Mir.

The Sikh movement started during turbulent periods in the history of empires of India, one of which was the Mughal empire which projected Law and order from an Islamic viewpoint onto a majority Hindu Society where the existence of Buddhism had been wiped out. Sikhism has parallels with the Bhagati (Bhakti) movement, mysticism and Sufism.

Khalsa code of conduct strictly forbids the use of intoxicants, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, narcotics and any other foreign substance which disrupts the body, sexual relationship out of marriage, consuming sacrificial meat, cutting of hairs.

The Sikh religion also teaches human life is very valuable, described as more precious than a diamond which comes after great spiritual deeds and merits are done, to have gone through 8.4 million life cycle of incarnations before human life was attained. Therefore the meaning of life from Sikh teachings is to unite with the supreme being referred to as God.

Five Ks

thumb|left|[[Kanga (Sikhism)|Kanga, Kara and Kirpan—three of the five articles of faith endowed to the Sikhs.]] The Five Ks, or ''panj kakaar/kakke'', are five articles of faith that all ''baptized Sikhs'' (also called Khalsa Sikhs) are typically obliged to wear at all times, as commanded by the tenth Sikh Guru, who so ordered on the day of Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. The symbols are worn for identification and representation of the ideals of Sikhism, such as honesty, equality, fidelity, militarism, meditating on God, and never bowing to tyranny. The five symbols are:

Kesh (uncut hair, usually tied and wrapped in the Sikh Turban, Dastar.)

Kanga (wooden comb, usually worn under the Dastar.)

Katchera (specially made cotton underwear as a reminder of the commitment to purity.)

Kara (iron bracelet, which is a symbol of eternity.)

Kirpan (curved sword, comes in different sizes, for example in the UK Sikhs would wear a small sharp dagger whereas in the Punjab Sikhs would wear the traditional curved sword, from one to three feet in length.)

History

Essentially Sikh history, with respect to Sikhism as a distinct political body, can be said to have begun with the death of the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev in 1606. Sikh distinction was further enhanced by the establishment of the Khalsa (ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ), by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The evolution of Sikhism began with the emergence of Guru Nanak as a religious leader and a social reformer during the 15th century in Punjab. The religious practice was formalized by Guru Gobind Singh on March 30, 1699. The latter baptised five people from different social backgrounds to form Khalsa. The first five, Pure Ones, then baptized Gobind Singh into the Khalsa fold. This gives Sikhism, as an organized grouping, a religious history of around 400 years.

Generally Sikhism has had amicable relations with other religions. However, during the Mughal rule of India (1556–1707), the emerging religion had strained relations with the ruling Mughals. Hindu Hill rajahs fought frequent battles against Guru Gobind Singh because they were largely opposed to Guru Gobind Singh's casteless principles of religion. Prominent Sikh Gurus were killed by Mughals for opposing Mughal persecution of minority religious communities. Subsequently, Sikhism militarized to oppose Mughal hegemony. The emergence of the Sikh Empire under reign of the Maharajah Ranjit Singh was characterized by religious tolerance and pluralism with Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power. The establishment of the Sikh Empire is commonly considered the zenith of Sikhism at political level, during this time the Sikh Empire came to include Kashmir, Ladakh, and Peshawar. Hari Singh Nalwa, the Commander-in-chief of the Sikh army along the North West Frontier, took the boundary of the Sikh Empire to the very mouth of the Khyber Pass. The Empire's secular administration integrated innovative military, economic and governmental reforms.

The months leading up to the partition of India in 1947, were marked by heavy conflict in the Punjab between Sikh and Muslims. The effect was the religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab, mirroring a similar religious migration of Punjabi Muslims in East Punjab.

The 1960s saw growing animosity and rioting between Sikhs and Hindus in India, as the Sikhs agitated for the creation of a Punjab state based on a linguistic basis similar to that by which other states in India had been created. This had also been promised to the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh by Nehru in return for Sikh political support during the negotiations for Indian Independence. Sikhs obtained the Punjab but not without losing some Punjabi speaking areas to Himachal Pradesh and Harayana and worst of all Chandigarh was made Union Territory and joint capital of Haryana & Punjab. Punjab on November 1, 1966.

Communal tensions arose again in the late 1970s, fueled by Sikh claims of discrimination and marginalization by the Hindu dominated Indian National Congress ruling party and the "dictatorial" tactics adopted the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Frank argues that Gandhi's assumption of emergency powers in 1975 resulted in the weakening of the "legitimate and impartial machinery of government" and her increasing "paranoia" of opposing political groups led her to instigate a "despotic policy of playing castes, religions and political groups against each other for political advantage". As a reaction against these actions came the emergence of the Sikh leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who vocalized Sikh sentiment for justice and advocated the creation of a Sikh homeland, Khalistan. This accelerated Punjab into a state of communal violence. Gandhi's 1984 action to defeat Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale led to the attack of the Golden Temple in Operation Bluestar and ultimately led to Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. This resulted in an explosion of violence against the Sikh community in the anti-Sikh riots which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Sikhs throughout India; Khushwant Singh described the actions as being a Sikh pogrom in which he "felt like a refugee in my country. In fact, I felt like a Jew in Nazi Germany". Since 1984, relations between Sikhs and Hindus have reached a rapprochement helped by growing economic prosperity; however in 2002 the claims of the popular right-wing Hindu organization the RSS (which has long played a significant role in protecting Sikhs during riots ), that "Sikhs are Hindus" angered Sikh sensibilities. Many Sikhs still are campaigning for justice for victims of the violence and the political and economic needs of the Punjab espoused in the Khalistan movement.

In 1996 the Special Rapporteur for the Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or belief, Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia, 1993–2004), visited India in order to compose a report on religious discrimination. In 1997, Amor concluded, "it appears that the situation of the Sikhs in the religious field is satisfactory, but that difficulties are arising in the political (foreign interference, terrorism, etc.), economic (in particular with regard to sharing of water supplies) and even occupational fields. Information received from nongovernment (sic) sources indicates that discrimination does exist in certain sectors of the public administration; examples include the decline in the number of Sikhs in the police force and the military, and the absence of Sikhs in personal bodyguard units since the murder of Indira Gandhi".

Sikh music and instruments

Sikhs have developed their own instruments: Rabab, Dilruba, Taus, Jori and the Sarinda. The Sarangi was also encouraged by Guru Har Gobind. The Rabaab was first used by Bhai Mardana, as he accompanied Guru Nanak Dev on his journeys. Jori and Sarinda were both designed by Guru Arjan Dev. The Taus was made by Guru Har Gobind, it is said that he heard a peacock singing and wished to create such an instrument that could mimic it sounds, Taus is the Persian word for peacock. The Dilruba was made by Guru Gobind Singh at the request of his Sikhs. They wished for a smaller instrument as the Taus was hard to carry and maintain, due to constant battles. After Japji Sahib all of the shabd in the Guru Granth Sahib are written in raag. The shabd is typically played in accordance with that particular raag. This style of singing is known as Gurmat Sangeet.

When marching into battle, the Sikhs would use drumming to boost their morale and become excited. This was called the Ranjit Nagara (Drum of Victory). Nagaras are large war drums, making a thundering sound and measuring about 2 to 3 feet in diameter, played with two sticks. The special or original Ranjit Nagara, used in past battles, are up to 5 feet across. The beat of the large drums usually meant that the army was marching into battle. It was also taken into the battle sometimes, the Sikhs would raise the Nishan Sahib high, the opposing forces would know the Singhs were coming. While the Sikhs spirit was boosting, the opposing forces would be losing morale.

Distribution

Numbering approximately 27 million worldwide, Sikhs make up 0.39% of the world population, of which approximately 83% live in India. Approximately 76% of all Sikhs live in the northern Indian State of Punjab, where they form a majority (about two thirds) of the population. Substantial communities of Sikhs, i.e. greater than 200,000, live in the Indian States/Union territories of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, Assam and the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sikh migration from the then British India began in earnest from the 2nd half of the 19th century when the British had completed their annexation of the Punjab. The British Raj preferentially recruited Sikhs in the Indian Civil Service and, in particular, the British Indian Army, which led to migration of Sikhs to different parts of British India and the British Empire. During the era of the British Raj, semiskilled Sikh artisans were also transported from the Punjab to British East Africa to help in the building of railways. After World War II, Sikhs emigrated from both India and Pakistan, most going to the United Kingdom but many also headed for North America. Some of the Sikhs who had settled in eastern Africa were expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972. Subsequently the main 'push' factor for Sikh migration has been economic with significant Sikh communities now being found in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Malaysia, East Africa, Australia and Thailand. thumb|rigth|350px|Map showing world Sikh population areas and historical migration patterns (Est. 2004). While the rate of Sikh migration from the Punjab has remained high, traditional patterns of Sikh migration, that favored English speaking countries, particularly the United Kingdom has changed in the past decade due to factors such as stricter immigration procedures. Moliner (2006) states that as a consequence of the 'fact' that Sikh migration to the UK had "become virtually impossible since the late 1970s", Sikh migration patterns altered to continental Europe. Italy has now emerged as a fast growing area for Sikh migration, with Reggio Emilia and the Vicenza province being areas of significant Sikh population clusters. The Italian Sikhs are generally involved in areas of agriculture, agro-processing, machine tools and horticulture.

Due primarily to socio-economic reasons, Indian Sikhs have the lowest adjusted decadal growth rate of any major religious group in India, at 16.9% per decade (est. 1991–2001). Johnson and Barrett(2004) estimate that the global Sikh population increases annually by 392,633 Sikhs, i.e. by 1.7% p.a. on 2004 figures, this growth rate takes into account factors such as births, deaths and conversions.

Representation

Sikhs are represented in Indian politics, by the current Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is the head of the government (the nominal head is the President of India)and wields the supreme authority, including the nuclear button, and the Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The current Chief-minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, is a Sikh. Past Sikh politicians in India have included former President Giani Zail Singh, India's first Foreign Minister Sardar Swaran Singh, the former President of India, Dr. Gurdial Singh Dhillon, Speaker of the Parliament of India. Pratap Singh Kairon, Union minister, Sikh Indian independence movement leader and former Chief-minister of Punjab (India).

Prominent politicians of the Sikh Diaspora include the first Asian American to be elected as a Member of United States Congress Dalip Singh Saund, the former mayoress of Dunedin Sukhi Turner, the current UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parmjit Dhanda MP and the first couple to ever sit together in any parliament in the history of commonwealth countries Gurmant Grewal and Nina Grewal, who sought apology by the Canadian Government for the historical Komagata Maru incident, and the Canadian Shadow Social Development Minister Ruby Dhalla MP. Vic Dhillon, is a Sikh Canadian politician and current member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Ujjal Dosanjh was the New Democratic Party Premier of British Columbia from July 2004 through February 2005, and currently serves as a Liberal frontbench MP in Ottawa. In Malaysia, two Sikhs were elected as MPs during the 2008 general elections; Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor) and his son Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong). Two Sikhs were elected as assemblymen; Jagdeep Singh Deo (Datuk Keramat) and Keshvinder Singh (Malim Nawar).

In the USA, the current Governor of South Carolina is Republican Nikki Haley, who is of Sikh origin. Haley identifies herself today as a Christian, but also attends both Sikh and Methodist services out of respect for her parents' culture.

Sikhs make up 10–15% of all ranks in the Indian Army and 20% of its officers, while Sikhs only forming 1.87% of the Indian population, which makes them over 10 times more likely to be a soldier and officer in the Indian Army than the average Indian. The Sikh Regiment is one of the highest decorated and believed to be the most courageous, powerful and skilled regiment of the Indian Army, with 73 Battle Honours, 14 Victoria Crosses, 21 ''first class'' Indian Order of Merit ''(equivalent to the Victoria Cross)'', 15 Theatre Honours and 5 COAS Unit Citations besides 2 Param Vir Chakras, 14 Maha Vir Chakras, 5 Kirti Chakras, 67 Vir Chakras and 1596 other gallantry awards. The highest-ranking General in the history of the Indian Air Force is a Punjabi Sikh Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh. Advanced plans by the MOD to raise an Infantry UK Sikh Regiment were scrapped in June 2007 to the disappointment of the UK Sikh community and Prince Charles of Britain.

Historically, most Indians have been farmers and even today 66% ''(two-thirds)'' of Indians are farmers. Indian Sikhs are no different and have been predominately employed in the agro-business, India's 2001 census found that 39% of the working population of Punjab were employed in this sector ''(less than the Indian average)''. The success, in the 1960s, of the Green Revolution, in which India went from "famine to plenty, from humiliation to dignity", was based in the Sikh majority state of Punjab which became known as "the breadbasket of India". The Sikh majority state of Punjab is also statistically the wealthiest ''(per capita)'' with the average Punjabi enjoying the highest income in India, 3 times the national Indian average. The Green Revolution centered upon Indian farmers adapting their farming methods to more intensive and mechanized techniques; note this was aided by the electrification of Punjab, cooperative credit, consolidation of small holdings and the existing British Raj developed canal system. Swedish political scientist, Ishtiaq Ahmad, states that a factor in the success of the Indian green revolution transformation was the "Sikh cultivator, often the Jat, whose courage, perseverance, spirit of enterprise and muscle prowess proved crucial". However not all aspects of the green revolution were beneficial, Indian physicist Vandana Shiva argues that the green revolution essentially rendered the "negative and destructive impacts of science [i.e. the green revolution] on nature and society" invisible; thus having been separated from their material and political roots in the science system, when new forms of scarcity and social conflict arose they were linked not to traditional causes but to other social systems e.g. religion. Hence Shiva argues that the green revolution was a catalyst for communal Punjabi Sikh and Hindu tensions; despite the growth in material affluence.

Punjabi Sikhs feature in varied professions such as scientists, engineers and doctors; notable Punjabi Sikhs include nuclear scientist Professor Piara Singh Gill who worked on the Manhattan project; optics scientist ''("the father of fibre optics")'' Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany; physicist and science writer/broadcaster Simon Singh and agricultural scientist Professor Baldev Singh Dhillon.

In the sphere of business, the clothing retailers/brands of UK based New Look and Thai based JASPAL were started by Sikhs. India's largest pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories is headed by Sikhs. UK Sikhs have the highest percentage of home ownership, at 82%, out of all UK religious communities. UK Sikhs are the 2nd wealthiest (after the Jews) religious community in the UK, with a median total household wealth of £229, 000. In Singapore, Kartar Singh Thakral has built up his family's trading business, Thakral Holdings/Corp, into a commercial concern with total assets of close to $1.4 billion. Thakral is Singapore's 25th richest person. Bob Singh Dhillon is the first Indo-Canadian billionaire and a Sikh. Perhaps no Sikh diaspora group has had as much success as those who have migrated to North America; especially the Sikhs who have migrated to California’s fertile Central Valley. The farming skills of the Sikhs and their willingness to work hard ensured that they rose from migrant labourers to become landowners who control much agriculture in California. American Sikh agriculturists such as Harbhajan Singh Samra and Didar Singh Bains dominate Californian agriculture and are known colloquially as the "Okra" and "Peach" kings respectively.

Prominent Sikh intellectuals, sportsmen and artists include the veteran writer Khushwant Singh, England cricketer Monty Panesar, former 400 m world record holder Milkha Singh, and Harbhajan Singh, India's most successful off spin Cricket bowler, actors Parminder Nagra, Namrata Singh Gujral, Archie Panjabi and director Gurinder Chadha.

The Sikhs have migrated to most parts of the world and their vocations are as varied as their appearances. The Sikh community of the Indian subcontinent comprises many diverse sets of peoples as the Sikh Gurus preached for ethnic and social harmony. These include different ethnic peoples, tribal and socio-economic groups. Main groupings (i.e. over 1,000 members) include: Ahluwalia, Arain, Arora, Bhatra, Bairagi, Bania, Basith, Bawaria, Bazigar, Bhabra, Chamar, Chhimba, Darzi, Dhobi, Gujar, Jatt, Jhinwar, Kahar, Kalal, Kamboj, Khatri, Kumhar, Labana, Lohar, Mahtam, Mazhabi, Megh, Mirasi, Mochi, Nai, Rajput, Ramgarhia, Saini, Sarera, Sikligar, Sunar, Sudh, Tarkhan and Zargar.

In India, the five largest ethnic groups among the Sikh population include:

Jatts at a population of 11,855,000

Mazhabis at 2,701,000

Tarkhans totaling 1,091,000

Rajputs numbering 769,000 Khatris totalling 290,000.

The Ahluwalias, Gujjars, Jatts, Kambojs, Khatris, Lubanas, Lohars, Rajputs and Ramgarhias are related to each other and are of Indo-Scythian origin as well as mythological Aryan race origin.

There has also emerged a specialized group of Punjabi Sikhs calling themselves Akalis, which have existed since Maharaja Ranjit Singh's time. Under their leader General Akali Phula Singh, in the early 19th century, they won many battles for the Sikh Empire.

Sikh paintings

Sikh painting is a direct offshoot of the Kangra School of painting. In 1810 Maharaja Ranjeet Singh (1780–1839) occupied Kangra Fort and appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia as his Governor of the Punjab Hills. In 1813 the Sikh army occupied Haripur Guler and Raja Bhup Singh became a vassal of Sikh Power. With the Sikh Kingdom of Lahore becoming the paramount power, some of the Pahari painters from Guler migrated to Lahore to enjoy the patronage of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and his Sardars.

The Sikh School of paintings is the adoption of the Kangra Kalam to Sikh needs and ideals. Its main subjects are the ten Sikh gurus and anecdotes from the Janam Sikh. The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, left a deep impression on the adherents of the new faith because of his reckless bravery and unparalleled sacrifices. Hunting scenes and portraiture are also common in Sikh painting.

Digital Library

Launched in 2003 under Nanakshahi Trust, the Panjab Digital Library was a result of the early phase of the digital revolution in Punjab. While most saw the Nanakshahi as a small digitization organization, or as an assemblage of some unknown youth working towards capturing some manuscripts on their digital cameras, its founders saw it as a cornerstone of a fundamentally new approach to preserving Punjab’s heritage for future generations. In the shadow of search engines, a Semantic Web approach thought of in the early 2003 reached maturity in 2006. This was when the organization planned to expand its operations from a mere three employee organization to one of the leading NGO’s working in the field of digital preservation all over India.

Digitized collections include manuscripts held by the Punjab Languages Department, items from the Government Museum and Art Gallery Chandigarh, Chief Khalsa Diwan, SGPC, DSGMC and manuscripts in the Jawahr Lal Nehru Library of Kurukshetra University. It also include hundreds of personal collections. With over 5 million pages digitized it is the biggest repository of digital data on Punjab.

Sikhs in the Indian and British Armies

By the advent of World War I, Sikhs in the British Indian Army totaled over 100,000, i.e. 20% of the British Indian Army. In the years to 1945, 14 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the Sikhs, a per capita record given the size of the Sikh Regiments. In 2002, the names of all Sikh VC and George Cross winners were inscribed on the pavilion monument of the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill next to Buckingham palace, London. Lieutenant Colonel Chanan Singh Dhillon was instrumental in campaigning for the memorial building.

During World War I, Sikh battalions fought in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli and France. Six battalions of the Sikh Regiment were raised in World War II, and served at El Alamein and in Burma, Italy and Iraq, winning 27 battle honours. Across the world, Sikhs are commemorated in Commonwealth cemeteries.

Sikhism in the Western world

As Sikhs wear turbans (although different from Middle Eastern turbans) and due to the relatively small number of Sikhs, there have been incidents of Sikhs in Western countries being mistaken for Middle Eastern Muslim men. This has led to mistaken attitudes and acts against Sikhs living in the West especially with respect to the 9/11 terrorist attack and recent Iraq War. Sikhs are neither Muslim nor from Middle East. Sikhism is basically a religion of India. The roots of Sikhism lie in Punjab (India). Sikhs make 60% to 70% of total population of Punjab. Only region in the world where Sikhs are in majority.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, some people associated Sikhs with terrorists or members of the Taliban. A few days after the attack, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man, was gunned down by Frank Roque, who thought that the victim had ties to al-Qaeda. CNN suggests that there has been an increase in hate crimes against Sikh men in the United States and the UK.

Sikhism has never actively sought converts, thus the Sikhs have remained a relatively ethnically homogeneous group. However, mainly due to the activities of Harbhajan Singh Yogi via his Kundalini Yoga focused 3HO (Happy, Healthy, Holy) Organization, Sikhism has witnessed a moderate growth in non-Indian adherents. In 1998 it was estimated that these 3HO Sikhs, known colloquially as ‘gora’ (ਗੋਰਾ) or ‘white’ Sikhs, totaled 7,800 and were mainly centered around Española, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California. A law in Oregon was passed banning the wearing of turbans by teachers and government officials. Sikhs and the Council on American-Islamic Relations worked together in successfully overturning the law.

In an attempt to foster strong Sikh leaders in the Western world, many youth initiatives have been begun by various organizations. For example, the Sikh Youth Alliance of North America annually holds the Sikh Youth Symposium, a public speaking and debate competition held in gurdwaras around America and Canada.

Art and culture

Sikh art and culture is synonymous with that of the Punjab region. The Punjab itself has been called India’s melting pot, due to the confluence of invading cultures, such as Greek, Mughal and Persian, that mirrors the confluence of rivers from which the region gets its name. Thus Sikh culture is to a large extent informed by this synthesis of cultures.

Sikhism has forged a unique form of architecture which Bhatti describes as being "inspired by Guru Nanak’s creative mysticism" such that Sikh architecture "is a mute harbinger of holistic humanism based on pragmatic spirituality". The reign of the Sikh Empire was the single biggest catalyst in creating a uniquely Sikh form of expression, with Maharajah Ranjit Singh patronising the building of forts, palaces, bungas (residential places), colleges, etc that can be said to be of the ''Sikh Style''. Characteristics of Sikh architecture are gilded fluted domes, cupolas, kiosks and stone lanterns with an ornate balustrade on square roofs. The "jewel in the crown" of the ''Sikh Style'' is the Harmindar Sahib.

Sikh culture is heavily influenced by militaristic motifs, with Khanda being the most obvious; the majority of Sikh artifacts, independent of the relics of the Gurus, have a military theme. This motif is again evident in the Sikh festivals of Hola Mohalla and Vaisakhi which feature marching and practicing displays of valor respectively.

The art and culture of the Sikh diaspora has been merged with that of other Indo-immigrant groups into categories such as 'British Asian', 'Indo-Canadian' and 'Desi-Culture'; however there has emerged a niche cultural phenomenon that can be described as 'Political Sikh'. The art of prominent diaspora Sikhs such as Amarjeet Kaur Nandhra & Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh ('The Singh Twins'), is informed by their Sikhism and the current affairs of the Punjab.

Bhangra and the Gidha are two forms of indigenous Punjabi folk dancing that have been appropriated, adapted and pioneered by Punjabi Sikhs. The Punjabi Sikhs have championed these forms of expression all over the world, such that Sikh culture has become inextricably linked to Bhangra, even though "Bhangra is not a Sikh institution but a Punjabi one."

Notable Sikhs in the modern era

Autar Singh Cheema - first Indian to climb Mount Everest in 1965

Abhinav Bindra – first Indian to win Olympic Gold medal individually (shooting)

Ajit Saini – Punjabi author, journalist, Indian National Army veteran

Alexi Singh Grewal – first American to win an Olympic Gold Medal in cycling

Amarinder Singh - Punjab congress leader, former Chief Minister of Punjab

Amrita Shergil - Eminent Indian painter

Angela Saini - British science journalist and author

Ashbeer Saini - Indian junior golfer

M S Banga, Ex-CEO – Hindustan Lever, Director on Board- Maruti Suzuki India Limited

Ajay Banga, President & COO- Mastercard, Ex CEO- Citi Group- Asia Pacific

Jessie Singh Saini, founder of BJS Electronics and notable American industrialist of Indian decent

Gurbachan Singh Salaria, winner of the Param Vir Chakra

Arjan Singh – Marshal of the Indian Air Force, former Chief of the Air Force Staff

Baldev Singh – Indian independence movement leader, first Defence Minister of India

Baltej Singh Dhillon - first turbaned member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Barjinder Singh Hamdard - Editor-in-Chief of newspaper ''Ajit'', novelist, ex-Rajya Sabha member

Bhagat Singh – Indian independence movement revolutionary leader and martyr

Bishan Singh Bedi - former Indian cricket captain

Chet Singh Chhokar was a doctor in the British Army who fought in World War I who was awarded many medals for his bravery in the war including Member of British Empire and George Cross Medal of those times. He often used Chet Singh not Chet Singh Chhokar as his last name.

Dalip Singh Rana/The Great Kali - professional wrestler, actor, and former powerlifter

Dara Singh - wrestler and Punjabi Bollywood actor

Dharam Singh Hayatpur – prominent member of the Babbar Akali Movement in India

Fauja Singh – 100-year-old Sikh marathon runner

Gurbaksh Chahal – American Punjabi entrepreneur and world's youngest self-made multimillionaire

Gurdas Maan - Punjabi writer, singer and actor

Gurdial Singh Dhillon - Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament)

Gurpareet Bains - chef, food writer, pioneer of the 'Indian Superfood' culinary concept

Harchand Singh Longowal - Sikh leader of non-violent movement for human rights and the rights of Punjab in the 1970s and 80s

Harbhajan Singh – Indian cricketer and India's first hat-trick bowler in Test matches

Harbhajan Singh Yogi - teacher of the holistic doctrine of Sikh teachings, founder of 3HO Foundation, peace activist

Hard Kaur – Bollywood playback singer, rapper and hip hop singer

Hardeep Singh Kohli – Sikh writer, broadcaster and presenter from Scotland

Indarjit Singh - British journalist and broadcaster

Jagjit Singh – Indian ghazal singer

Jay Sean (real name: Kamaljit Singh Jhooti) - British singer/songwriter

Jeev Milkha Singh – golfer and son of Olympian Athlete Milkha Singh

Jinder Mahal (real name: Yuvraj Dhesi) - Professional wrestler for WWE

Joginder Singh Bhachu - Rally Driver, 3 times East African Safari Rally Winner

Joginder Jaswant Singh – Indian Army Chief of Army Staff

Kartar Singh Sarabha – Indian revolutionary executed in November 1915 for his role in the Ghadar Conspiracy

Karpal Singh - Malaysian prominent opposition leader (Democratic Action Party)

Khushwant Singh - Indian novelist and journalist, Punjabi

Manmohan Singh – Prime Minister of India and economist

Manjot Singh - Actor

Milkha Singh ("the flying Sikh") – winner of Padma Shri, former 400 m track record holder, Gold medal (440 yards) at 1958 Commonwealth Games, Gold medal (200 and 400 m) at 1958 Asian Games and Gold medal (200 m) at 1962 Asian Games

Mohan Singh - owner and original franchise owner of Coca Cola, Delhi and builder/contractor

Mohan Singh Deb – founder of Indian National Army

Montek Singh Ahluwalia - economist, Chairman of Planning Commission, India

Monty Panesar – English cricketer

Narinder Singh Kapany – optics scientist and philanthropist

Neha Dhupia – Bollywood actress

Nikki Haley (born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa) - Governor of South Carolina

Pamela Leila Rai - 1984 Olympic bronze medalist for Canada (swimming), first Sikh woman in history to win an Olympic medal

Parkash Singh Badal - Indian politician, current Chief Minister of Punjab

Piara Singh Gill – nuclear scientist

Pratap Singh Kairon – Sikh and Indian independence movement leader

Preet Bharara- U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Pritam Saini - Punjab historian and journalist

Ranj Dhaliwal (Randheer Singh Dhaliwal) - crime-fiction author from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Rabinder Singh QC, English Barrister and High Court of Justice Judge

Ravi Bopara – English cricketer

Sadhu Singh Hamdard - Punjabi journalist, founder of Ajit Group, Padma Shri

Sartaj singh Pannu – Bollywood actor , Director http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soch_Lo

Sardar Swaran Singh - Indian politician, former cabinet minister

Sardar Hukam Singh - former speaker of Lok Sabha

Sardul Singh Caveeshar – Indian independence movement leader

Sardar Ujjal Singh - Indian politician, Governor of Tamil Nadu (1966–1971)

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – leader of the Damdami Taksal, a Sikh religious group based in India

Simon Singh - author who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner

Snatam Kaur - American singer and songwriter

Sunny Deol – Bollywood actor

Swati Mia Saini - Forbes Video Network anchor/reporter

Tara Singh Malhotra – Sikh and Indian independence movement leader in the first half of the 20th century

Talvin Singh – British electronic musician and tabla player

Udham Singh (Ram Mohamod singh Azad) – Indian independence activist who assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in March 1940

Zail Singh - former Indian President

Sikhs in the military

Bana Singh - awarded the Param Vir Chakra

Gian Singh - awarded the Victoria Cross

Harbaksh Singh - warrior, saved Srinagar 1947, won the Battle of Khemkaran defying orders from Gen. J. N. Chaudhary, repulsing a major Pakistani attack, 1965 war. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Vir Chakra.

Major General Hardev Singh Kler - Indian Army. Was one of few officers directly responsible for Indian victory in liberating Bangladesh.(awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for role in 1965 Indo-Pak war, and then Maha Vir Chakra in 1971 war. Notable for leading the Defence of KamalPur and the liberation of Jamalpur.

Ishar Singh - first Sikh to receive the Victoria Cross

Jagjit Singh Arora - supervised the surrender of more than 90,000 Pakistani personnel in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the 1971 India-Pakistan war

Gurmukh Singh Saini - awarded the Cross of St. George

Joginder Singh Sahnan - awarded Param Vir Chakra

Gurbachan Singh Salaria, winner of the Param Vir Chakra

Karamjeet Singh Judge - awarded the Victoria Cross

Karam Singh - awarded the Military Medal in World War II and awarded the Param Vir Chakra (the second person to receive the decoration)

Mohan Singh Deb - founder of the first Indian National Army in WW2

Nand Singh - awarded the Victoria Cross

Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon - the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra

Parkash Singh - awarded the Victoria Cross

Other notable decorated Sikh soldiers

Kartar Singh Taunque – awarded Distinguished Flying Cross, first air man of the Royal Indian Air Force to be decorated for gallantry

Uday Singh Taunque – awarded Purple Heart and Bronze Star, first Indian to die in Iraq War as part of the US army

Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri- awarded Maha Vir Chakra for leading his company of consisting only 120 men against a strong 2000+ pakistani side

References and notes

Further reading

''The Sikhs In History: A Millennium Study '' by Sangat Singh, Noel Quinton King. New York 1995. ISBN 81-900650-2-5

''A History of the Sikhs: Volume 1: 1469–1838'' by Khushwant Singh. Oxford India Paperbacks (January 13, 2005). ISBN 0-19-567308-5

''The Sikhs'' by Patwant Singh. Image (July 17, 2001). ISBN 0-385-50206-0

''The Sikhs of the Punjab'' by J. S. Grewal. Published by Cambridge University Press (October 28, 1998). ISBN 0-521-63764-3.

''The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society'' by W.H. McLeod. Published by Columbia University Press (April 15, 1989). ISBN 0-231-06815-8

''The Sikh Diaspora: Tradition and Change in an Immigrant Community (Asian Americans — Reconceptualizing Culture, History, Politics)'' by Michael Angelo. Published by Routledge (September 1, 1997). ISBN 0-8153-2985-7

External links

Sikhs.org — general resource site introducing the main concepts of Sikhism

The BBC page on Sikhism

SikhMuseum.com

SikhPhilosophy.net —An Interactive Resource on Sikh Philosophy

Sikhism Guide

Sikh Kara

All About Sikhs

Sri Granth — Guru Granth Sahib search engine with additional scriptural resources

Sikh-History.com

SikhNet — Sikh community website

About Sikhism

SikhsOnnet Comprehensive Sikh Information

Category:Punjabi words and phrases Category:Ethnoreligious groups Category:Ethno-cultural designations

az:Siqh bn:শিখ bg:Сикхи ca:Sikh ga:Saíceach gu:શીખ hi:सिख ja:シク教徒 ml:സിഖ് nl:Sikh no:Sikher nn:Sikhar pa:ਸਿੱਖ pnb:سکھ ta:சீக்கியர்கள் ur:سکھ zh:锡克人

:''This article is about human hair. For other uses, see Longhair (disambiguation) or Hair'' Long hair is a hairstyle. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair.

Scientists view long hair as playing a large part in natural selection among many species, since long, thick and healthy hair or fur is frequently a sign of fertility and youth. As hair grows slowly, long hair reveals several years of a person's health status and reproductive fitness. Hair length is significantly correlated with female attractiveness, as rated by men as well as women. Hair length and quality can act as a cue to especially a woman's youth and health, signifying reproductive potential. The prevalence of trichophilia (hair partialism or fetischism) is 7% in the population, and very long hair is a common subject of devotion in this group.

In the context of cultural and social norms, hair can signal gender differences as well as ideological differences. Opposite sexes and opposite ideologies tend to have opposite styles of hair, for example hair lengths.

Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as soldiers and religious cultures, often have explicit rules regarding hair length. For example, Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship. Even outside religious structures, cultures often associate male long hair with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through hair length, as was the case with the Irish under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval Spain.

Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-haired and religiously devoted Nazarites of the Hebrew Bible (Samson being a famous example) and among the Sikhs.

East Asian cultures have traditionally seen long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up in styles such as the ponytail, plait, or any bun.

Transferred meaning

The traditional connotation of "long hair" in English meant, roughly, someone artistically knowledgeable or wise, an aesthete. As a descriptive term, it has been applied to Merovingians and classical music enthusiasts, as well as hippies and aesthetes.

Hair lengths

{| | | | | | | |} Hair length is measured (in centimeters or inches) from the line of the scalp on the forehead up over the highest point of the skull to its termination. In cosmetology, hair lengths longer than what is usually considered short are categorized according to the following:

''Chin level'' is considered long for men in some cultures, but usually not for women.

''Shoulder-length'' is hair reaching the shoulders; hair usually takes about 3 years to reach this point.

''Mid-back level'' is hair falling to the widest part of the chest.

''Waist-length'' hair falls to the smallest part of one's waist; for most people approximately 80–90 cm (32–36 inches) long, and taking about 7 years to grow, including occasional trims.

''Hip-length'' hair stretches to the hip.

''Classic length'' extends to almost upper thigh-length, where the legs meet the buttocks.

''Thigh-length'' reaches to the thigh.

''Knee-length'' reaches to the knee.

''Ankle/floor length'' comes to the ankle or beyond.

Maximum hair length

The maximum hair length that is possible to reach is about 15 cm for infants (below the age of 1), about 60 cm for children (below the age of 13), and generally 100 cm for adults. Documentation for decrease of the maximum length with age cannot be found in the literature. Some individuals can reach excessive lengths. Lengths greater than 150 cm are frequently observed in long hair contests. Xie Qiuping had the longest documented hair in the world, measuring 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) in May 2004.

The maximum terminal hair length depends on the length of the anagen (period of hair growth) for the individual. Waist-length hair or longer is only possible to reach for people with long anagen. The anagen lasts between 2 and 7 years, for some individuals even longer, and follows by shorter catagen (transition) and telogen (resting) periods. Between 85% and 90% of the hair strains are in anagen.

Psychological significance

Anthropologists speculate that the functional significance of long head hair may be adornment, a by-product of secondary natural selection once other androgenic/somatic hair (body hair) had largely been lost. Another possibility is that long head hair is a result of Fisherian runaway sexual selection, where long lustrous hair is a visible marker for a healthy individual. For some groups or individuals, however, short hair is the selected trait.

By seven to nine months, infants can tell the sexes apart based on hair length, voice pitch and faces.

Cultural history

Hair is one of the most important ways humans have of presenting themselves, being one of the parts of their body which is easiest to manipulate. Also, having short, cut hair (or a shaven head) is often viewed as being under society's control, such as while in prison or as punishment for a crime, while males having long hair signifies being outside of the mainstream.

In Jewish and Christian scriptures

In the Old Testament, the Nazirites would go for long periods of time without cutting their hair to show devotion to God. Samson is one example; his strength depended upon his refraining from cutting his hair. The New Testament says, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering," something followed by women in some apostolic pentecostal denomitations in some countries as an act of holiness.

Western culture

Classical period

In ancient Greece, long male hair was a symbol of wealth and power, while a shaven head was appropriate for a slave. The ancient Greeks had several Gods and heroes who wore their hair long, including Zeus, Achilles, Apollo, and Poseidon. Greek soldiers are said to have worn their hair long in battle. Such warriors considered it a sign of aristocracy and are said to have combed it openly in order to show off. Also, in order to keep enemies from getting a hold of it in battle, they were known to cut the front short, but leave it long in the back, where it was more out of reach. A widely held alternative interpretation of the conventional belief that they cut it short in the front in order to keep their enemies from getting a hold of it during battle is that, they did not in fact cut it in the front, but rather tied it back in a style known as a pony tail in order to keep it out of their enemies' reach. The pony tail method allowed warriors, who often traveled to battle with a minimal amount of equipment in order to avoid excessively heavy loads over long marches, to keep their hair manageable with a small piece of string to hold their pony tail in place and a knife to cut the back to length with one simple slice. Around the sixth century, however, the Greek men shifted to shorter hairstyles, with the exception of the Spartans. Women in the culture remained with the longer style, which for them showed freedom, health, and wealth, as well as good behavior. In men, it was considered a sign of false pride by this time. Women in Roman times valued long hair, usually with a center part. Men's hair was usually shorter than women's, (but in the early times, the custom was quite the same as in Greece) although other cultures of the time, such as Greeks in the east, considered long hair to be typical of philosophers, who were thought to be too engrossed in learning to bother with hair. Strictly in the province of Rome, however the shorter hairstyle was especially popular. When Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls, who favored long hair, he ordered it to be cut short.

Up to the seventeenth century

In the European middle ages, shorter hair often signified servitude and peasantry, while long hair was often attributed to freemen, such as the Germanic Goths and Merovingians. In Ireland, English colonists who wore their hair long in the back were considered to be rejecting their role as English subjects and giving in to the Irish life. Irishmen, in turn, scolded others of their race who moved into English culture by cutting their hair. Thus, hair length was one of the most common ways of judging a true Englishman in this period. Muslims in Christian areas were ordered to keep their hair short and parted, as their longer style was considered rebellious and barbaric. thumb|right|200px|Empress Elisabeth of Austria wearing thigh-length hair in 1865. A long hair fad was widespread among English and French men in the 11th and 12th centuries, though otherwise it was considered, mostly because of endorsement of the Roman Catholic Church, proper for men to have shorter, and women, longer hair. The fad was largely brought about by monarchs who rejected the shorter hairstyle, causing the people to follow. Wulfstan, a religious leader, worried that those with longer hair would fight like women, and be unable to protect England from foreign invasion. (This idea can be found in later military leaders as well, such as those of the American Confederacy.) Knights and rulers would also sometimes cut or pull out their hair in order to show penitence and mourning, and a squire's hair was generally shorter than a knight's. Married women who let their hair flow out were frowned upon, as this was normally reserved for the unwed, although they were allowed to let it out in mourning, to show their distressed state. Through these centuries it was expected of Eastern Christians to wear long hair as well as long beards, which was especially expected from clergy and monks.

In England, during the English Civil War times of 1642 to 1651, male hair length was emblematic of the disputes between Cavaliers and Roundheads (Puritans). Cavaliers wore longer hair, and were less religious minded, thought of by the Roundheads as lecherous. The more devout Roundheads had short hair, although there were exceptions.

Recent meanings

Before World War One men generally had longer hair and beards. However, short hair on men has often been enforced as a mean of control, in police, military and other forces that require obedience and discipline. Slaves and defeated armies were often required to shave their heads. The trench warfare in 1914 to 1918 exposed men to flea and lice infestations, which prompted the order to cut short hair, establishing a norm that has persisted.

Beat poets during the 1950s wore longer hairstyles, as did many of the urban gay culture, although long hair was far from popular. However, the 1960s introduced The Beatles, who started a widespread longer hair fad. The social revolution of the 1960s led to a renaissance of unchecked hair growth, and long hair, especially on men, was worn as a political or countercultural symbol or protest. This cultural symbol extended to several Western countries in the Americas, Western Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Specific long hairstyles such as dreadlocks have been part of counterculture movements seeking to define other alternative cultures and lifestyles since this time. Longer hair in general remained popular among the youth rebellion throughout the liberal decade of the 1960s. Homosexual men, many of whom had adopted a long hairstyle in the early 1950s, have largely abandoned this trend. Some people saw the long hair fad as a threat to gender identity, cultural, and religious norms as it grew with the spread of the hippie movement in the 1960s. Notably, some country-and-western performers during this period (and many fans) also sported longer hair.

In the 1970s, the popularity of Jamaica's reggae music and musician Bob Marley prompted interest in dreadlocks internationally. The anti-establishment philosophy of Rastafari, echoed in much of the reggae of the time, resonated with left-leaning youth of all ethnicities — especially and primarily among African Americans and other Blacks, but among counterculture whites as well. The Eastern Christians are encouraged to wear long hair with long beard. In the 1980s the view of long hair as a solitary signifier of political or counter-cultural identity was countered and parodied in films such as Rambo and many other militaristic heroes of media which challenged then-contemporary views of what was masculine. Today, longer hairstyles remain popular among rock enthusiasts. Long hair may be grown for the purpose of being donated to an organization, such as Locks of Love, for hairpieces to help those who could not have hair otherwise, such as those who are diagnosed with alopecia areata.

Women

Women often have a stronger inclination towards long hair than men do. Younger women tend to have longer hair than older women. Hair length and quality can act as a cue to a woman's youth and health, signifying reproductive potential. Growing and wearing long hair was almost universal among women in the western world until World War One. Some feminists have declared long hair as "irrefutably feminine," while others argue for short hair.

Sikhism

The Sikhs were commanded by Guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar in 1699 to wear long uncut hair called Kesh at all times. This was one of the 'five requisites of faith', collectively called Kakars that form the external visible identifiers to clearly affirm a Sikh's commitment and dedication to the order (Hukam) of the tenth master and made one a member of the Khalsa. The Khalsa is the "Saint-Soldier" of Guru Gobind Singh who stated the following: "He does not recognize anyone else except One Lord, not even the bestowal of charities, performance of merciful acts, austerities and restraint on pilgrim-stations; the perfect light of the Lord illuminates his heart, then consider him as the immaculate Khalsa." (Guru Gobind Singh in the Dasam Granth page 1350)

The Kesh or unshorn long hair is an indispensable part of the human body as created by Vaheguru that is the mainstay of the 'Jivan Jaach' and the Rehni that was prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib by which a Sikh is clearly and quickly identified, Kesh. The kanga, another requisite of faith is usually tucked behind the "Rishi Knot" and tied under the turban. The uncut long head hair and the beard in the case of men forms the main kakar for the Sikhs.

KESADHARI, a term defining a Sikh as one who carries on his head the full growth of his kes (hair) which he never trims or cuts for any reason. Anyone, Sikh or non-Sikh, may keep the hair unshorn, but for the Sikh kes, unshorn hair, is an requisite of faith and an inviolable vow. The Sikh Rahit Maryada published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, statutory body for the control and management of Sikh shrines and by extension for laying down rules about Sikh beliefs and practices, issued in 1945, after long and minute deliberations among Sikh scholars and theologians, defines a Sikh thus: Every Sikh who has been admitted to the rites of amrit, i.e. who has been initiated as a Sikh, must allow his hair to grow to its full length. This also applies to those born of Sikh families but [who] have not yet received the rites of amrit of the tenth master, Guru Gobind Singh. ".

Islam

In the Muslim world, it seems the trend of hair styles is now favouring short over long in men. In the past, Bedouin Muslims often wore their hair in long braids, but western influences brought on the view that such styles were feminine in nature. Now, Bedouins are much less likely to have long hair. Islamic countries in North Africa such as Egypt view long hair in men as homosexual and in one case the Egyptian police viewed it as satanic and a sign of an infidel, although Western rock music, especially heavy metal, may have contributed to this view.

Muslims regard Prophet Muhammad as the best example to live by, and try to emulate him whenever possible. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad reportedly in Sahih Muslim had hair that "hung over his shoulders and earlobes". Sahih Bukhari, regarded the most authentic of hadith, also supports this. The Prophet Muhammad has also described Jesus as "having long hair reaching his ear lobes."

With regards to women, neither Qur'an nor Sunnah explicitly state that women cannot cut their hair. Hadith does mention that women should not imitate men, and vice versa, and hence many scholars on this assumption, decree that women should let their hair grow longer than the hair of the Prophet, reaching beyond their shoulders, as hadith mentions that the Prophet had his hair between his shoulder and his earlobes. (He described Jesus's hair, which hung to his earlobes, as long.)

However culturally, some Muslims are opposed to men having long hair as it is also important in Islam to have clear differences (in appearance) between sexes. And generally these cultures encourage women to have long hair and men to have short hair. The Taliban viewed long hair for men as a western influence, and punished it by arrest and forced haircuts, albeit this would be a direct contradiction of the sunnah of the Prophet. Similar measures have been taken by Islamists in Iraq. In spite of this, several Taleban affiliated members of the Mehsud clan are recognisable by their long hair. The Saudi Islamist fighter Amir Khattab was also notable for his long hair. Dervishes of some Sufi orders, such as the Kasnazani, often have long hair and whirl it around during rituals.

Native Americans

Many Native American men wore long hair before the arrival of western influences on their culture. (In Cherokee legends, for example, males said to be handsome were often described as having "long hair almost to the ground" or similar formulas.). Both men and women of these cultures have frequently struggled to maintain their tradition, but have faced heavy opposition. Many consider it a sign of giving in to western influences to have their hair cut. Early American settlers saw long-haired, native men as rebelling against their civilized society. Mountain men and trappers who adopted the customs were also considered amoral, and often identified by their long hair. Since the cultural movements of the sixties and seventies, however, Native Americans have felt less pressure to have short hair, as different movements have defended their cultural rights. For example, several states have loosened prison regulations, allowing Native Americans to wear long hair during incarceration, along with other cultural allowances. There has been resistance to these changes, however, as long hair is sometimes used to hide drugs, as well as to identify with a gang.

Sub-Saharan Africans

In West African cultures, women with long hair were highly valued. Long, thick hair was seen as a sign of health, strength, and capability to bear many children. In keeping with this general theme, women who were too young for marriage would shave a portion of their heads to signal so. This tradition, however, did not extend to every African tribe, as several valued shorter hair.

African Americans

When black slaves were freed in the Americas, they struggled to reach the social status of whites. Many former slaves tried to conform their hairstyles as part of this struggle. African-American women felt pressured to make their hair straight like white women, rather than keeping the shorter, curlier style they had known. However, during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, African-Americans such as Malcolm X advocated hairstyles such as afros and dreadlocks. Social pressures at the time were heavily influencing African-American females to have long, straight hair, like many Caucasians did. Recently, scholars have observed continued pressure on blacks to have long, straight hair. Amelian Jones believes that dolls marketed towards children add to this pressure, citing as an example a new black Barbie with long hair. Jones believes that African-American females should maintain their "African" cultural norms without feeling pressured to "tame" their hair.

Asia

Historically, East Asian cultures viewed long hair as a sign of youth and aesthetic beauty. Long hair is associated with private life and sexuality. East Asian cultures see long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up. Lay Buddhists have long hair, while Buddhist monks have shaved heads. For Sikhs, Kesh is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally as a symbol of devotion to God and lack of worldliness. In Jewish and other cultures, shortening hair signifies mourning and sadness.

Around the seventeenth century, the Manchu people forced all men in China to adopt a hairstyle called a queue, which was basically a long braid down the back with the hair on the front part of the head shaved. This style lasted well into the nineteenth century, when the Chinese began immigrating to America. Americans at first judged them to be poor workers because their long hair brought an association with women. Both Islamic and Christian missionaries to the Chinese were strong advocates of shorter hair for their converts, but this was a small group. Around the Destruction of Four Olds period in 1964, almost anything seen as part of Traditional Chinese culture would lead to problems with the Communist Red Guards. Items that attracted dangerous attention if caught in the public included jewelry and long hair. These things were regarded as symbols of bourgeois lifestyle, that represented wealth. People had to avoid them or suffer serious consequences such as tortures and beatings by the guards. More recently, long hair was ridiculed in China from October 1983 to February 1984, as part of the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign. Li Yang, an unorthodox Chinese English teacher who brands the popular Crazy English, claims the following on his website:

What [America, England and Japan] want most is for China’s youth to have long hair, wear bizarre clothes, drink soda, listen to Western music, have no fighting spirit, love pleasure and comfort!

In Southeast Asia and Indonesia, male long hair was valued in until the seventeenth century, when the area adopted outside influences including Islam and Christianity. Invading cultures enforced shorter hairstyles on men as a sign of servitude, as well. They were also confused at the short hairstyles among women in certain areas, such as Thailand, and struggled to explain why women in the area had such short hair. They came up with several mythical stories, one of which involved a king who found a long hair in his rice and, in a rage, demanded that all women keep their hair short.

In rural areas in certain Asian countries, for example India, girls still usually let their hair grow long, and knee-length hair is not unusual.

See also

Grooming

Haircut

Hair extensions

Hairstick

Lady Godiva

Long hair fetishism, a form of ''Trichophilia''

Rapunzel

Images

Female long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Female long hair photos (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Male long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Male long hair photos (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

References

Category:Hairstyles Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Heavy metal fashion

de:Langes Haar fr:Cheveux longs it:Capelli lunghi ja:ロングヘア uk:Довге волосся

''Mohan Singh directs to this page regarding an Indian politician. For the Indian military officer and the first leader of the Indian National Army during the secondworld war, see Capt. Mohan Singh

name	Mohan Singh
birth date	March 04, 1945
birth place	Deoria, Uttar Pradesh
residence	Deoria
constituency	Deoria
office	MP
party	SP
religion	Hindu
spouse	Urmila Singh
children	2 daughters
date	17 September |
year	2006 |
source	http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsmember/biodata.asp?mpsno3604 }}

Mohan Singh (born 4 March 1945) is an Indian politician from the Samajwadi Party. He was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He is currently the General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party.

Political career

He was born in Deoria in a village Jainagar in year 1945. His fater's name is Mahendra Pratap Singh. During his college life, Sh. Mohan Singh was president of Allahabad University Students` Union during year 1968-69. After his college life, he was detained for 20 months during emergency for taking part in Jayaprakash Narayan's movement. He was also imprisoned several times while taking part in student agitation in year 1966, once for occupying Anand Bhavan, Allahabad, and also in an agitation launched by Socialist party on the language issue. He was jailed along with Madhu Limaye for participating in Satyagraha in year 1973.

He has been elected at numerous Indian constitutional posts including member of parliament thrice - elected to 10th Lok Sabha ( 1991–96), Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (2nd term) ( 1998) and Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (3rd term). He was also member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly during year (1977–85) and Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( 1977–79).

Apart from the above tenures, he had been part of numerous parliamentary committees including Member of committee on Public Undertakings ( 1983–85), Member, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council ( 1990–91) , Member, Committee of Privileges ( ), Member, Business Advisory Committee ( 1998–99), Member, Committee on Official Language ( ), Member, Committee on Home Affairs and its Sub-Committee on Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme ( ) , Member, Committee of Privileges ( ) , Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism ( ), Member, Committee on Rural Development ( ) , Member, House Committee ( ) , Member, House Committee ()umesh kumar singh editor TOI is a close relative and share a healthy relation with him.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Indian politicians Category:People from Uttar Pradesh Category:People from Deoria Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:Samajwadi Party politicians Category:10th Lok Sabha members Category:12th Lok Sabha members

name	Sharad Pawar
birth date	December 12, 1940
birth place	Pune, M aharashtra
residence	Baramati, Pune]]
constituency	Madha
office	MP
office1	Chief Minister of Maharashtra
term start1	18 July 1978
term end1	17 February 1980
predecessor1	Vasantdada Patil
successor1	President's Rule
term start2	26 June 1988
term end2	25 June 1991
predecessor2	Shankarrao Chavan
successor2	Sudhakarrao Naik
term start3	6 March 1993
term end3	14 March 1995
predecessor3	Sudhakarrao Naik
successor3	Manohar Joshi
office4	Presidents Bharat Scouts and Guides
term start4	2001
term end4	2004
predecessor4	Rameshwar Thakur
successor4	Rameshwar Thakur
office5	Minister of Agriculture
term start5	2004
term end5	Present
predecessor5	Rajnath Singh
successor5	Incumbent
office6	Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
term start6	2004
term end6	2011
predecessor6	Sharad Yadav
successor6	K.V. Thomas
office7	president of the International Cricket Council president of RAYAT SHIKSHAN SANSTHA
term start7	2010
term end7	Present
predecessor7	David Morgan
successor7	Incumbent
party	Indian National Congress (1967–1999) Nationalist Congress Party (1999–present)
religion	Hindu
spouse	Pratibha Pawar
children	1 daughter – Supriya Sule
profession	Social workerPolitician
date	October 29
year	2010
source	http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsmember/biodata.asp?mpsno327 }}

Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (; born 12 December 1940), popularly known as SAHEB, is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress. He has previously held the posts of Minister of Defence and Chief Minister of Maharashtra and currently serves as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.

Pawar is from the town of Baramati in the Pune district of Maharashtra. He leads the NCP delegation in the Lok Sabha, representing his constituency of Madha in Maharashtra. He has a prominent place in Indian national politics as well as regional politics of Maharashtra, although marred by frequent corruption allegations.

Pawar also served as the Chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India from 2005 to 2008. In 2010, Sharad Pawar became the International Cricket Council president after England's David Morgan.

Early Life and Family History

M. Pawar is one of the eleven children (seven sons and four daughters) born to Govindrao Pawar and Shardabai (nee, Bhonsle). Govindrao was employed by the Baramati farmers' Cooperative ( Sahakari Kharedi Vikri Sangh) whilst his mother looked after the family farm at Katewadi, a few kilometers from Baramati. Most of siblings were well educated and were either professionals or ran their own businesses. Mr. Pawar studied at BrihanMaharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC)in Pune. He was an average student, however, active in student politics. Mr. Pawar's first political act was when he organized a protest march for Goan Independence in Pravaranagar in 1956., Mr. Pawar is married to Pratibha ( nee Shinde). They have one daughter, Supriya who is married to Sadanand Sule. Mr. Pawar's nephew, Ajit Pawar is also a prominent politician in his own right. Mr. Pawar's younger brother, Pratap runs the influential Marathi daily, Sakal

Career

Till 1990

Sharad Pawar entered the Maharashtra legislative assembly for the first time in 1967 from Baramati, representing the undivided Congress Party. Yashwantrao Chavan was the political mentor of Sharad Pawar.

Pawar broke away from the Congress to form a coalition government with the opposition Janata party in 1978 becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time at a time when Indira Gandhi had become incredibly unpopular due to her imposition of Emergency in 1975. This Progressive Democratic Front government was dismissed in February 1980, following Indira Gandhi's return to power at the Centre.

In the elections that followed, the Congress party won the majority in state assembly and A.R. Antulay,took over as the chief minister of the state. Pawar took over the Presidency of the Congress in 1981. For the first time, he won Lok Sabha election from Baramati parliamentary constituency in 1984. He also won state assembly elections of March 1985 from Baramati and preferred to continue in state politics for a while and resigned from the Lok Sabha. His party, the Indian Congress (Socialist) won 54 seats out of 288 in the state assembly and he became the leader of the opposition.

His returning to the Congress has been cited as a reason for the rise of the Shiv Sena at that time. In June 1988, Prime Minister of India and Congress President Rajiv Gandhi decided to induct then Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan into Union Cabinet as Finance Minister and Sharad Pawar was chosen to replace Chavan as chief minister. Sharad Pawar had the task of checking the rise of the Shiv Sena in state politics, which was a potential challenge to the dominance of Congress party in the state. In 1989 Lok Sabha elections, Congress party won 28 seats out of 48 in Maharashtra. In the state assembly elections of February 1990, the alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party posed a stiff challenge to the Congress. Congress fell short of an absolute majority in the state assembly, winning 141 seats out 288. Sharad Pawar was sworn in as chief minister again on March 4, 1990 with the support of 12 independent MLAs.

Early 1990s

During the course of election campaign, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. There were reports in the media that Pawar's name was being considered for the Prime Minister's post along with those of P.V. Narasimha Rao and N.D. Tiwari. However the Congress Parliamentary Party elected P.V. Narasimha Rao as its leader and he was sworn in as Prime Minister on June 21, 1991. Rao decided to induct Pawar as Defence Minister. On June 26, 1991, Pawar took over as that portfolio, continuing till March 1993. After Pawar's successor in Maharashtra, Sudhakarrao Naik stepped down, Rao sent Pawar back as chief minister of the state.

He was sworn in as chief minister for his fourth and most controversial term on March 6, 1993. Almost immediately, Mumbai, the financial capital of India and the state capital of Maharashtra, was rocked with series of bomb blasts on March 12, 1993.

Mid 1990s

The Deputy Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, G R Khairnar made a series of accusations against Pawar for being involved in corruption and protecting the criminals. Though Khairnar could not produce any evidence in support of his claims, it inevitably affected Pawar's popularity. Notable social worker Anna Hazare started a fast unto death to demand expulsion of 12 officers of the Forest department of Government of Maharashtra, who had been accused of corruption. The opposition parties accused Pawar's government of trying to shield the corrupt officers. The 1994 Gowari stampede occurred at Nagpur during the Winter Session of Maharashtra State Assembly and killed 114 people. Nagpur Police were trying to disperse almost 50000 Gowari protesters using baton charge but it created panic and triggered stampede amongst protesters. Allegations were made that the mishap occurred because welfare minister Madhukarrao Pichad did not meet with the delegation of the Vanjara people in time. Though Pichad stepped down owing moral responsibility for the mishap, this incident was another setback to Sharad Pawar's government.

The elections to the Vidhan Sabha were due to be held in 1995. The Shiv Sena and BJP combine was leading the Congress in the polls, and there was widespread rebellion in the Congress party. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine won 138 seats while Congress party retained only 80 seats in the state assembly. Sharad Pawar had to step down and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi took over as chief minister on March 14, 1995.

Till the Lok Sabha elections of 1996, Sharad Pawar served as the Leader of the Opposition in State Legislative Council. In the 1996 General elections, he won from the Baramati seat and has not returned to the State Assembly since.

1997 till date

In June 1997, he unsuccessfully challenged Sitaram Kesri for the post of Congress President. In the mid-term parliamentary elections of 1998, Sharad Pawar not only won from his constituency, Baramati but also led the Congress to an emphatic win in Maharashtra. His move to align with the Republican Party of India (Athvale) and Samajwadi Party for the elections in the state brought rich dividents and the Congress party and allies won 37 seats out of 48 in the state. Sharad Pawar served as Leader of Opposition in 12th Lok Sabha.

After 12th Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections to 13th Lok Sabha were due, Pawar, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar demanded that the Congress Party needed to project someone born in India as the Prime Ministerial candidate and not the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, who had entered party politics and replaced Kesri as Congress President.

In June 1999, Pawar and Sangma founded the Nationalist Congress Party. His party had to align with the Congress party to form a coalition government in Maharashtra as neither party could win an absolute majority on its own in the 1999 assembly elections. Pawar, however, did not return to state politics, and Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress was chosen as Chief Minister, with Chagan Bhujbal representing the NCP as his deputy. The alliance has endured at the national and state level to this day.

After 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he joined the United Progressive Alliance government headed by Manmohan Singh as the Minister of Agriculture.

On November 29, 2005, he was elected President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

He was appointed Union Minister of Agriculture and of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution on May 28, 2009

The criminal-politician nexus

In 2002–03, the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Sudhakarrao made a statement that the state leader of Indian National Congress party and erstwhile Chief Minister Sharad Pawar, had asked him to "go easy on Pappu Kalani", a well known criminal-turned-politician now. Shiv Sena Chief, Bal Thakare, had later concurred with these allegations. Further, Sudhakarrao also alleged that it was possible that Kalani and Hitendra Thakur, another criminal-turned-politician from Virar, had been given tickets to contest election for Maharashtra State Legislature at the behest of Sharad Pawar who also put in a word for Naik with the police when the latter was arrested for his role in post-Babri Masjid Demolition riots in Mumbai.

Allegations of corruption

Abdul Karim Telgi cited Pawar's name in relation to the 600 billion rupee stamp-paper scam, during a narcoanalysis filmed by various Indian news channels, wherein he also mentioned Chhagan Bhujbal Telgi also claimed that it was Sharad Pawar's brain to print fake stamp papers across country and mint money. Pawar's idea to print fake currency was rejected by Telgi.

The BJP asked for Pawar's resignation after alleging he was involved in a multi-crore scam involving wheat imports. In May 2007 a tender floated by the Food Corporation of India for procurement of wheat was cancelled when the lowest bid received was for 263 USD/ton. The government subsequently allowed private traders to purchase wheat directly from farmers that year resulting in a paucity of wheat to stock FCI granaries. By July 2007 the shortage at FCI was large enough to require import of wheat at a much higher price of 320–360 USD/ton. Taking advantage of this, traders who had domestically purchased wheat at 900 INR/ton earlier, were now offering the same to FCI at 1,300 INR/ton.

On October 27, 2007, the Bombay High Court served notices to institutions headed by Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar and Sadanand Sule (Sharad Pawar's son-in-law) along with a corresponding notice served to the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC) on why special privileges were given to Pawar and his family. This was done in consideration of a Public Interest Litigation No. 148 of 2006, filed by Shamsunder Potare alleging that the land said allocations in Pune, made in 2002, were illegal. The institutions and properties mentioned include: Two plots given allotted to Vidya Pratishthan, an educational society headed by Sharad Pawar A plot allotted to Anant Smriti Pratishthan, headed by Ajit Pawar, the Maharashtra state minister for irrigation and Sharad Pawar's nephew

A 130,000 square metre (32.12 acre) plot allotted to Lavasa Corporation, owned by Sadanand Sule, Sharad Pawar's son-in-law at the time. He handed over his stake in 2006.

A plot allotted to Shivajinagar Agriculture College A plot allotted to Sharadchandraji Scout and Guide Training Institute

These allocations were made allegedly under NCP leader and minister Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar who was in charge of MKVDC at the time. Sharad Pawar was served a contempt of court notice on May 1, 2008 in connection with this case for issuing statements to the press even though the matter was ''subjudice'' at the time, that was later rejected by the court. Also in connection with the case, the respondents were directed not to create third-party interests in the property under dispute and to undertake any developments at their own risk.

While Pawar had declared that he is no richer than 3.6 crore rupees, the recent IPL Pune team bidding has revealed his 16% stake in City finance. IPL Pune team is supposedly worth 1200 crore rupees. Likewise, his 0.05% stake in Royal Challengers Bangalore team is alone worth 6 crores. The Pawars had consistently denied any IPL stake, but have now had to declare it publicly.

Pawar is also listed on the No Criminals website as an incriminated offender of the Religion Institution Act 1988 (Prevention of Misuse).

Ever since he has been appointed Cabinet Minister for Agriculture, Pawar has been consistently accused of being incapable of handling the extreme hike in prices of agricultural produce. Wheat import in 2007 – Bombay High Court issued notices to Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, questioning the decision to import defective red wheat and to submit details of procurement of the crop from different states and the exact process of importing it.

Sugar prices in 2009 – Opposition parties, including the BJP and the CPI(M) accused Sharad Pawar of engineering a steep rise in the price of sugar to the advantage of hoarders and importers. Onion prices in 2010–11 – The opposition have accused him to be responsible on the same issue.

Veteran social leader Anna Hazare has claimed that Sharad Pawar has "corruption running through his veins"

Endosulfan

Even though almost all over the world has banned Endosulfan, India is the only one country which is against global banning of Endosulfan. Recently, Sarad Pawar made a remark that Endosulfan is not yet proved dangerous. This remark made some activist like vandana shiva to call him a corrupt minister.

Sports administration

Pawar has interests in kabbadi, kho kho, wrestling and football. He has served as the head of various sports organizations, including

Mumbai Cricket Association

Maharashtra Wrestling Association

Maharashtra Kabbadi Association

Maharashtra Kho Kho Association

Maharastra Olympics Association

Board of Control for Cricket in India President 2005 – 2008

International Cricket Council Vice President International Cricket Council President Pawar was president of Pune International Marathon Trust, which host Pune International Marathon for last 22 years.

See also

Ajit Pawar, MLA, his nephew

Supriya Sule, his daughter, MP Loksabha

Prataprao Pawar brother, Managing Director-editor, Sakal

Rajendra pawar son of Prataprao Pawar

References

External links

Profile at ''BBC News''

Profile at Govt. of India website

Further reading/sources

P. K. Ravindranath (February 1, 1992) ''Sharad Pawar- the making of a modern maratha'' South Asia Books. ISBN 81-85674-46-9

Page 23 of the Times of India, New Delhi, Tuesday, December 12, 2006.

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Agriculture | years = ?-present}} {{s-ttl | title = Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | years = ?-present}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Minister of Maharashtra | years = 18 July 1978 – 17 February 1980}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Minister of Maharashtra | years = 26 June 1988 – 25 June 1991}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Minister of Maharashtra | years = 6 March 1993 – 14 March 1995}} {{s-ttl | title = Presidents of the Bharat Scouts and Guides | years = 2001–2004}}

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Indian politicians Category:Chief Ministers of Maharashtra Category:Maharashtra politicians Category:Cricket administrators Category:People from Pune Category:Members of the Cabinet of India Category:People from Maharashtra Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:Nationalist Congress Party politicians Category:Members of Parliament from Maharashtra Category:Scouting and Guiding in India Category:Politicians with physical disabilities Category:Marathi politicians Category:Marathi people Category:Union Ministers from Maharashtra Category:Indian sports administrators Category:Leaders of political parties in India Category:Indian people with disabilities

bn:শরদ পওয়ার kn:ಶರದ್ ಪವಾರ್ ml:ശരദ് പവാർ mr:शरद पवार sv:Sharad Pawar ta:சரத் பவார் ur:شرد پوار

{{Infobox Ethnic group | group = Italian American

|image =

|caption = Notable Italian Americans:Joe DiMaggioFrancesca CabriniFrank SinatraSamuel AlitoNancy PelosiFiorello LaGuardiaRudy GiulianiGeraldine FerraroEnrico FermiVince LombardiMadonnaFrank CapraMario LanzaAnne BancroftRocky Marciano

| poptime = 17,815,289 6.0% of the US population (2008) The greatest surge of immigration, which occurred in the period between 1880 and 1920, alone brought more than 4 million Italians to America. About 80% of the Italian immigrants came from Southern Italy, especially from Sicily and Campania, parts of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. This region was mainly agricultural, overpopulated and economically underdeveloped, and benefitted little from the industry of the North after Italian unification. The Italian government initially encouraged emigration of landless peasants ("contadini") to relieve economic pressures in the South. In the U.S., most Italians began their new lives as unskilled, manual workers. Italian Americans gradually moved from the lower rungs of the economic scale in the early 1900s to a level comparable to the national average by 1970. The Italian-American communities have often been characterized by strong ties with family, the Catholic Church, fraternal societies and political parties. Today, over 17.8 million Americans claim to have Italian ancestry.

The experiences of Italians and their descendents in America have been extremely varied, depending upon the region to which they immigrated, and the era in which they immigrated. They helped shape America and were, in turn, shaped by it. No common identity is shared by all Italian Americans; rather, they are as diverse as the American population itself. They have excelled in all fields of endeavor, and have gained prominence in politics, business, law, medicine, television, literature, education, the fine arts, the culinary arts, science, the military, engineering, sports, music, and entertainment.

History

Early period

The Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to enter New York Bay. The first Italian to reside in America was Pietro Cesare Alberti, a Venetian seaman who, in 1635, settled in what would eventually become New York City. A group of 200 Waldensians arrived from Italy in 1640 in search of a more hospitable place to practice their religion. The Taliaferro family, originally from Venice, was one of the first families to settle in Virginia.

These were joined by a small but steady stream of new arrivals, some of whom had been invited to come to America because they possessed much needed skills in agriculture and the making of glass, silk and wine. Others came because of their musical abilities as teachers and performers, such as the group of Italian musicians Thomas Jefferson invited to come to form a military band, which later became the nucleus of the U.S. Marine Band. Still others came as adventurers, explorers, missionaries and political refugees.

These early arrivals settled in many different areas, but constituted a relatively small part of the American population as a whole. However, their contributions were very significant in the founding and settling of the country. Filippo Mazzei, a physician and promoter of liberty, was a close friend and confidant of Thomas Jefferson. He published a pamphlet containing the phrase: "All men are by nature equally free and independent", which Jefferson incorporated essentially intact into the Declaration of Independence. Italian artists and sculptors were brought to Washington to work on the new Capitol building and to create some of its major monuments. Constantino Brumidi created the frescoed interior of the Capitol dome, and spent the rest of his life executing still other artworks to beautify the Capitol. Later, the six Piccirilli Brothers sculpted the Lincoln Memorial.

Numerous Italians in the employ of Spain and France, whose territorial claims in America were based on the voyages of Italian navigators, were involved in exploring and mapping these territories, and in establishing settlements. The southwest and California were explored and mapped by Eusebio Kino (Chino), an Italian priest. Henri de Tonti (Enrico de Tonti), together with the French explorer LaSalle, explored the Great Lakes region. De Tonti founded the first European settlement in Illinois in 1679, and the first French settlement in Arkansas in 1683. His brother Alphonse de Tonty (Alphonso de Tonti) was the co-founder of Detroit, and its colonial governor for 12 years. The route to the source of the Mississippi was discovered by Giacomo Beltrami while exploring the territory that was later to become Minnesota.

Since France and Spain were Catholic countries, many missionaries were sent by the Catholic Church to convert the native population to Christianity and to provide for the spiritual needs of the settlers. Among these were Italian missionaries of the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, who were active in many parts of America, and especially in the west. Italian Jesuits founded numerous missions, schools and five colleges in the west, subsequently to become Jesuit universities (San Francisco, Seattle, Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Regis). The Italian Jesuits also laid the foundation for the wine-making industry that would later flourish in California. In the east, the Italian Franciscans founded hospitals, orphanages, schools, and a college that later became St. Bonaventure University. Samuel Mazzuchelli, a missionary and expert in Indian languages, ministered to whites and Indians in Wisconsin and Iowa for 34 years, and was later declared Venerable by the Catholic Church.

The early arrivals were scattered throughout the country, with the largest concentration being in the northeast. It was there that recognition of their common Italian roots and culture was the greatest. The first opera house in the country opened in 1833 in New York through the efforts of Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's former librettist, who had immigrated to America. The first Italian American newspaper, "L'Eco d'Italia" was published in New York in 1849 by Francesco de Casale. The first Columbus Day celebration was organized by Italian Americans in San Francisco in 1869.

Italian Americans served in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, both as soldiers and officers. Six Italian Americans received the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War, among whom was Colonel Luigi di Cesnola, later to become the first director of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York. Italian American involvement in politics had already begun. In 1837 John Phinizy (Finizzi) became the mayor of Augusta, Georgia. In 1880 Anthony Ghio became the mayor of Texarkana, Texas. Francis Spinola, the first Italian American to serve in Congress, was elected in 1887 from New York.

An immigrant, Antonio Meucci, brought with him in 1845 a concept for the telephone. He is credited by many researchers with being the first to demonstrate the principle of the telephone; however, considerable controversy exists relative to the priority of invention, with Alexander Graham Bell also being accorded this distinction.

The main period of immigration

After Italian unification, in 1861, economic conditions worsened considerably for many in southern Italy and Sicily. Heavy taxes and other economic measures imposed on the South made the situation virtually impossible for many tenant farmers, and small business and land owners. Multitudes chose to emigrate rather than try to eke out a meager living. Often, the father and older sons would go first, leaving the mother and the rest of the family behind until the male members could afford their passage.

From 1880 to 1920, an estimated 4 million Italian immigrants arrived in the United States, the majority from 1900 to 1914. Once in America, the immigrants faced great difficulties. Usually with no knowledge of the English language and with little education, many of the immigrants were compelled to accept the poorest paying and most undesirable jobs, and were frequently exploited by the middlemen who acted as intermediaries between them and the prospective employers. Many sought housing in the older sections of the large northeastern cities in which they settled, which became known as "Little Italies", often in overcrowded substandard tenements. About a third of the immigrants, so called "birds of passage", intended to stay in the United States for only a limited time, followed by a return to Italy with enough in savings to re-establish themselves there. While many did return to Italy, others chose to stay, or were prevented from returning by the outbreak of World War I.

The Italian male immigrants in the Little Italies were most often employed in manual labor, heavily involved in public works, such as the construction of roads, sewers, subways and bridges being carried out at the time in the northeastern cities. The woman most frequently worked as seamstresses in the garment industry or in their homes. Many established small businesses in the Little Italies to satisfy the day-to-day needs of fellow immigrants. In spite of the economic hardship of the immigrants, civil and social life flourished in the Italian American neighborhoods of the large northeastern cities. Italian theater, band concerts, choral recitals, puppet shows, mutual-aid societies, and social clubs were available to the immigrants. An important event, the "festa", became for many an important connection to the traditions of their ancestral villages in Italy and Sicily. The festa involved an elaborate procession through the streets in honor of a patron saint or the Virgin Mary in which a large statue was carried by a team of men, with musicians marching behind. Followed by food, fireworks and general merriment, the festa became an important occasion that helped give the immigrants a sense of unity and common identity. To assist the immigrants in the Little Italies, who were overwhelmingly Catholic, Pope Leo XIII dispatched a contingent of priests, nuns and brothers of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo. Among these was Sister Francesca Cabrini, who founded schools, hospitals and orphanages and who, after her death, was declared the first American saint. Hundreds of parishes were founded by the St. Charles missionaries to serve the needs of the Italian communities.

The destinations of many of the Italian immigrants were not only the large cities of the East Coast, but also more remote regions of the country, such as Florida and California. They were drawn there by opportunities in agriculture, mining, railroad construction, lumbering and other activities underway at the time. Many of the immigrants had contracted to work in these areas of the country as a condition for payment of their passage. In many cases, especially in the south, the immigrants were subject to economic exploitation, hostility and sometimes even violence. Many of the Italian laborers who went to these areas were later joined by wives and children, which resulted in the establishment of permanent Italian American settlements in diverse parts of the country.

In time, the Italian immigrants and their children began adjusting to life in their adopted country, and making contributions to mainstream American life and culture. Many of the immigrants had brought with them specialized skills and knowledge, and an entrepreneurial spirit. A significant number of business innovations were brought about by Italian Americans. Amadeo Giannini originated the concept of branch banking to serve the Italian American community in San Francisco. He founded the Bank of Italy, which later became the Bank of America. His bank was also instrumental in providing financing to the film industry developing on the west coast at that time. Other companies founded by Italian Americans - such as Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Progresso, Planters Peanuts, Del Monte Foods, Contadina, Chef Boyardee, Italian Swiss Colony wines and Jacuzzi - became nationally known brand names in time. An Italian immigrant, Italo Marchioni, is credited with inventing the earliest version of an ice cream cone in 1898. Another Italian immigrant, Giuseppe Bellanca, brought with him in 1912 an advanced aircraft design, which he began producing. It was Charles Lindbergh's first choice for his flight across the Atlantic, but other factors ruled this out; however, one of Bellanca's planes, piloted by Cesare Sabelli, made one of the first trans-Atlantic flights in 1934.

Italian Americans became involved in entertainment and sports. Rudolph Valentino was one of the first great film icons. Dixieland jazz music had a number of important Italian American innovators, the most famous being Nick LaRocca of New Orleans, whose quintet made the first jazz recording in 1917. The first Italian American professional baseball player, Ping Bodie (Giuseppe Pezzole), began playing for the Chicago White Sox in 1912. Ralph DePalma won the Indianapolis 500 in 1915.

Italian Americans became increasingly involved in politics, government and the labor movement. Andrew Longino was elected Governor of Mississippi in 1900. Fiorello LaGuardia was elected from New York in 1916 to serve in the Congress. Charles Bonaparte was Secretary of the Navy and later Attorney General in the Theodore Roosevelt administration, and founded the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Italian Americans were leading activists in unionizing workers in industries where they constituted a sizable part of the work force, such as the mining, textile and garment industries.

World War I and after

World War I, together with the restrictive Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924, effectively put an abrupt end to the large flow of Italian immigrants into the country. By 1920, the Little Italies had stabilized and grown considerably more prosperous as workers were able to obtain higher-paying jobs, often as skilled workers. English was now the language most commonly heard on the streets of the Little Italies. The passage of child labor laws resulted in Italian American children staying in school at least through the eighth grade, which assured a better future for them as they entered adulthood.

The Italian American community wholeheartedly supported the war effort, and its young men enlisted in large numbers. It was estimated that Italian American servicemen made up more than 10% of the total American forces in World War I, a disproportionately high percentage of the total. Two Italian Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service.

Many of the returning servicemen brought with them a new perspective and confidence, which led them to seek better employment opportunities. Jobs as policemen, firemen and civil servants became available to Italian Americans; while others found employment as plumbers, electricians, mechanics and carpenters. Woman found jobs as civil servants, secretaries, dressmakers, and clerks. The changing employment prospective occasioned large numbers to move to neighborhoods outside of the Italian enclaves. The Depression (1929–39) had a major impact on the Italian American community, and temporarily reversed some of the earlier gains made. Many benefitted from New Deal work programs, such as the Works Progress Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corp.

Italian Americans made great upward strides in the post-war years, and contributed significantly to American life and culture:

:In politics, Al Smith (Ferrara) was the first Italian American governor of New York, and a candidate for president in 1928. Fiorello LaGuardia became mayor of New York City in 1931. Vito Marcantonio was elected to Congress in 1934 from New York. Ferdinand Pecora led a Senate investigation of the 1929 stock market crash, which exposed major financial abuses, and spurred Congress to rein in the banking industry. Italian Americans continued their significant involvement in the labor movement. James Petrillo became president of the American Federation of Musicians, a position he held for 18 years.

:There were numerous Italian Americans involved in music, both classical and popular. Under the outstanding leadership of Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the Metropolitan Opera became a world-class musical organization. Many Italian operatic singers and conductors were invited to perform for American audiences, including the great tenor Enrico Caruso. The legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini introduced many Americans to classical music through his popular NBC Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts. Rosa Ponselle, a daughter of Italian immigrants, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918, and subsequently became a world famous performer. Popular singers included Russ Columbo, who established a new singing style that greatly influenced Frank Sinatra and other singers that followed. On Broadway, Harry Warren (Salvatore Guaragna) wrote the music for ''42nd Street'', and received three Academy Awards for his compositions. Other Italian American musicians and performers, such as Jimmy Durante, who later achieved fame in movies and television, were active in vaudeville. Guy Lombardo formed a popular dance band, which became an institution on New Year's Eve in NYC's Times Square.

:The film industry of this era included a number of Italian Americans who became well known. Frank Capra received three Academy Awards for directing. Italian American cartoonists were responsible for some of the most popular animated characters. Donald Duck was created by Al Taliaferro, Woody Woodpecker was a creation of Walter Lantz (Lanza), with Casper the Friendly Ghost being the creation of Joseph Oriolo. Tom and Jerry was co-created by Joseph Barbera. The voice of Snow White was provided by Adrianna Caselotti, a talented 21-year old soprano.

:Involvement in sports accelerated, and brought many Italian Americans national recognition. Gene Sarazen (Eugenio Saraceni) won both the Professional Golf Association and U.S. Open Tournaments in 1922. Peter DePaola won the Indianapolis 500 in 1925. Tony Lazzeri and Frank Crosetti started playing for the New York Yankees in 1926. Tony Canzoneri won the lightweight boxing championship in 1930. Lou Little (Luigi Piccolo) began coaching the Columbia University football team in 1930. The legendary Joe DiMaggio began playing for the New York Yankees in 1936. Hank Luisetti was a three time All American basketball player at Stanford University from 1936 to 1940. Louis Zamperini, one of America's most promising distance runners, competed in the 1936 Olympics and later became the subject of the bestselling book ''Unbroken'' by Laura Hillenbrand, published in 2010.

:In business, Italian Americans had become leading producers of fresh fruits and vegetables by recognizing the untapped potential of the large tracts of land surrounding many of the major cities. They cultivated the land and raised produce, which was trucked into the nearby cities and often sold directly to the consumer through farmer's markets. In California, the DiGiorgio Corporation was founded, which grew to become the leading supplier of fresh produce in the United States. Also in California, Italian Americans had become the leading growers of grapes, and producers of wine. Many well known wine brands, such as Mondavi, Carlo Rossi, Petri, Sebastiani, and Gallo emerged from these early enterprises. Italian American companies were the leading importers of Italian wines, processed foods, textiles, marble and manufactured goods.

World War II and after

As a member of the Axis powers, Italy declared war on the United States in 1941. Any concerns about the loyalty of Italian Americans were quickly dispelled. More than half a million Italian Americans served in the various branches of the military. In spite of this display of loyalty, hundreds of Italians viewed as a potential threat to the country were interned in detention camps, some for up to 2 years. As many as 600,000 others, who had not become citizens, were required to carry identity cards identifying them as "resident alien". Thousands more on the West Coast were required to move inland, often losing their homes and businesses in the process. A number of Italian-language newspapers were forced to close because of their past support of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Two books, ''Una Storia Segreta'' by Lawrence Di Stasi and ''Uncivil Liberties'' by Stephen Fox; and a movie, ''Prisoners Among Us'', document these World War II developments.

Italian Americans served with distinction during the war, and 14 were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Among these was Sgt. John Basilone, one of the most decorated and famous servicemen in World War II, who was later featured in the HBO series ''The Pacific''. In the air, Capt. Don Gentile became one of the war's leading aces, with 25 German planes downed. At home, the work of Enrico Fermi was crucial in shortening the war. Fermi, a Nobel Prize laureate nuclear physicist, immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1938. He led a research team at the University of Chicago that was able to produce the world's first sustained nuclear chain reaction, which clearly demonstrated the feasibility of an atom bomb. After the first sustained nuclear chain reaction was achieved, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt received the message: "The Italian navigator has landed". Fermi later became a key member of the team at Los Alamos Laboratory that developed the first atom bomb. He was subsequently joined at Los Alamos by Emilio Segre, one of his students from Italy, who was also destined to become a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics. Fermi's work on the nuclear chain reaction laid the foundation for the nuclear power industry which began developing after the war.

World War II opened up new employment opportunities for large numbers of Italian Americans in the factories producing war materiel. This included many Italian American women, such as Rose Bonavita, who was recognized with a personal letter from President Roosevelt commending her for her performance as an aircraft riveter. She subsequently became known as "Rosie the Riveter", and came to symbolize all of the millions of American woman workers in the war industries.

The post-war period was a time of great social change for Italian Americans. Many aspired to a college education, which became possible for returning veterans through the GI Bill. Better educated, Italian Americans entered mainstream American life in great numbers. The Little Italies were largely abandoned by the younger generation, who more often chose to live in other urban areas and in the suburbs. Many married outside of their ethnic group, most frequently with other ethnic Catholics, but increasingly also with those of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Italian Americans took advantage of the new opportunities that became generally available to all after World War II. They made enormous strides in virtually all fields of endeavor:

:Italian Americans entered politics at the local, state and national levels in large numbers. In 1950, John Pastore of Rhode Island became the first Italian American to be elected to the Senate. In the same year, Vincent Impellitteri became mayor of New York City. Anthony Celebrezze became mayor of Cleveland in 1953, and was later appointed Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Kennedy administration. Peter Rodino chaired the House Judiciary Committee, and led the impeachment hearings of President Richard Nixon. John Sirica presided over the Watergate hearings that ultimately led to Nixon's resignation. John Scali was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1973-75. Ella Grasso was the first woman elected Governor of Connecticut in 1980. Mario Cuomo was elected Governor of New York in 1982. Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman vice presidential candidate in U.S. history. Frank Carlucci served as Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989.

:Scores of Italian Americans became popular singers in the post-war years. Frank Sinatra continued his legendary career, and was joined by Mario Lanza, Perry Como, Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti), Tony Bennett (Benedetto), Frankie Laine (Francesco LoVecchio), Vic Damone (Vito Farinola), Don Cornell (Luigi Varlaro), Bobby Darin (Walden Cassotto), Johnny Desmond (Giovanni De Simone), Bobby Rydell (Ridarelli), Julius La Rosa, Connie Francis (Concetta Franconero), Joanie James (Giovanna Babbo), Madonna and a host of others. Composers Henry Mancini and Bill Conti received numerous Academy Awards for their songs and film scores. Classical and operatic composers John Corigliano, Norman Dello Joio, Dominick Argento, Gian Carlo Menotti and David Del Tredici were honored with Pulitzer Prizes and Grammy Awards.

:In professional baseball, Joe DiMaggio continued his career with the Yankees. Other well known players in the post-war years included: Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Carl Furillo, Sal Maglie, Vic Raschi, Roy Campanella, Dom DiMaggio, Ernie Lombardi, Joe Pepitone, Rico Petrocelli, Sal Bando, Rocky Colavito, and Tony Conigliaro.

:In college football, Joe Paterno became one of the most successful coaches ever. Seven Italian American players won the Heisman Trophy: Angelo Bertelli of Notre Dame, Alan Ameche of Wisconsin, Gary Beban of UCLA, Joe Bellino of Navy, John Cappelletti of Penn State, Gino Torretta and Vinny Testaverde of Miami.

:In professional football, Vince Lombardi set the standard of excellence for all coaches to follow. Numerous Italian Americans were outstanding players of the era, including: Alan Ameche, Leo Nomellini, Andy Robustelli, Franco Harris, Charlie Trippi, Gino Marchetti, Joe Fortunato, Babe Parilli, Dan Pastorini, Dante Lavelli, Gino Cappelletti, Nick Buoniconti, John Capelletti, Mike Lucci, Brian Piccolo, Vince Ferragamo, Daryle Lamonica, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Vinny Testeverde.

:In boxing, Rocky Marciano was the undefeated heavyweight champion from 1952 to 1956. Carmen Basilio, Rocky Graziano and Jake LaMotta were middleweight champions. Ray Mancini and Vinny Pazienza were lightweight champions. Willie Pep was a featherweight champion. Angelo Dundee (Angelo Mirena) trained 15 world champion boxers, including Muhammad Ali.

:In golf, Ken Venturi won both the British and U.S. Open championships in 1956. Donna Caponi won the U.S. Women's Open championships in 1969 and 1970.

:In Olympic competition, Mary Lou Retton (Rotunda) won the all-around gold medal in woman's gymnastics. Matt Biondi won a total of 8 gold medals in Olympic swimming competition. Brian Boitano won a gold medal in men's singles figure skating. Linda Fratianne won a silver medal in woman's singles figure skating. Mike Eruzione was the captain of the 1980 olympic team that beat Russia in the Miracle on Ice game, in which he scored the winning goal, allowing the U.S. team to go on to win the gold medal.

:In other diverse sports, Willie Mosconi was a 15-time World Billiard champion; Eddie Arcaro was a 5-time Kentucky Derby winner; and Mario Andretti was a 3-time national race car champion.

:Many Italian Americans actors became well known in movies and TV, such as: Don Ameche, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anne Bancroft (Anna Italiano), Ernest Borgnine (Ermes Borgnino), Robert Alda, Alan Alda, Lou Costello, Frank Langella, Frankie Avalon (Avallone), Annette Funicello, James Darren (Ercolani), Jimmy Durante, Anthony Franciosa, Sal Mineo, Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, Aldo Ray (DaRe), Richard Conte, Bernadette Peters (Lazzara), Connie Stevens (Concetta Ingoglia), Richard Crenna, Dom DeLuise, Armand Assante, Susan Sarandon, Danny De Vito, Joe Mantegna, John Travolta, Tony Danza, Alyssa Milano, Paul Sorvino, Mira Sorvino, Al Pacino, Liza Minelli, Rene Russo, Leonardo di Caprio, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Nicolas Cage (Coppola), Stanley Tucci, Marissa Tomei and Sylvester Stallone.

:Italian Americans were highly successful movie directors. Frank Capra directed the classic movie ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in 1946. Vincente Minelli directed a number of major box-office successes, including ''Gigi'' and ''An American in Paris''. Later in the century a new generation of directors arose, three of which - Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Michael Cimino - became Academy Award winners.

:Italian Americans founded a number of well known business enterprises, including: Barnes and Noble, Tropicana Juices, Zamboni, TransAmerica, Subway, Blimpie, Castro Convertibles, Prince Pasta, American Italian Pasta Company, Mr. Coffee, Conair Beauty Products, and the Macaroni Grill and Carrabba's Italian Grill restaurant chains. Other enterprises founded by Italian Americans were Farleigh Dickinson University, and the Syracuse Nationals basketball team - later to become the Philadelphia 76ers.

Italians continued to immigrate after the war, and an estimated 600,000 arrived in the United States in the post-war decades. Many were well educated men and women who had come seeking greater opportunities in their chosen fields. Among these were four who were destined to become Noble Prize laureates: Salvatore Luria, Renato Dulbecco, Rita Levi-Montalcini and Riccardo Giacconi.

Contemporary period

Within a century of the period of peak immigration, Italian Americans had achieved education, employment and income parity with Americans in general. They had excelled in all fields of endeavor, and had made substantial contributions in virtually all areas of American life and culture:

:Italian Americans served with distinction in all of America's wars. Over three dozen had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the most recent being Salvatore Giunta for service in Afghanistan. A number of Italian Americans were serving as top-ranking generals in the Army, including Anthony Zinni, Raymond Odierno, Carl Vuono and Peter Pace, the latter two having also served as Army Chief of Staff.

:Over two dozen of Italian descent had been elected as state governors, most recently Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts, John Baldacci of Maine, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Donald Carcieri of Rhode Island, Joseph Manchin of West Virginia, Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Andrew Cuomo of New York.

:A score or more Italian Americans, beginning with Charles Bonaparte in the Teddy Roosevelt administration, and continuing with Leon Panetta and Janet Napolitano in the Barack Obama administration, had been appointed to Cabinet positions. John Podesta and Leon Panetta had served in the capacity of White House Chief of Staff.

:At the close of the 20th century, 31 men and woman of Italian descent were serving in the U.S. Congress and Senate – including Nancy Pelosi, who was the first woman in American history to become Speaker of the House.

:Two Italian Americans, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, were serving as U.S. Supreme Court justices.

:Over two dozen Italian Americans were serving in the Catholic Church as bishops. Four - Joseph Bernardin, Justin Rigali, Anthony Bevilacqua and Daniel DiNardo - had been elevated to Cardinals.

:Italian Americans were responsible for major breakthroughs in engineering, medicine and science. Federico Faggin developed the first micro-chip and micro-processor; Robert Gallo led research that identified a cancer-causing virus, and also the AIDS virus; Anthony Fauci conducted significant research that led to the discovery of the AIDS virus; Riccardo Giacconi developed the X-ray telecope; and Enrico Fermi ushered in the nuclear age.

:At the close of the 20th century, according to the National Italian American Foundation, 82 of the 1,000 largest cities had mayors of Italian descent, and 166 college and university presidents were of Italian descent.

:Americans of Italian descent were well known television personalities. Talk-show hosts included Jay Leno, Kelly Ripa and Joy Behar (Josephina Victoria Occhiuto). Current-affairs and financial- show hosts included Maria Bartiromo, Neil Cavuto, Andrew Napolitano and Charles Gasparino.

:Italian Americans had changed the eating habits of America. An increasing number of Italian dishes were becoming known and enjoyed. Italian American TV personalities, such as Mario Batali, Giada DeLaurentiis, Rachel Ray and Lidia Bastianich were hosting popular cooking shows featuring Italian cuisine.

In less than a century, Italian Americans had risen into the highest ranks of politics, the judiciary, business, the professions, the military and the Catholic hierarchy. They were counted among the country's best known sports and entertainment figures.

Politics

In the 1930s, Italian Americans voted heavily Democratic. Since 1968, voters have split about evenly between the Democratic (37%) and the Republican (36%) parties. The U.S. Congress includes Italian Americans who are regarded as leaders in both the Republican and Democratic parties. The highest ranking Italian American politician is currently Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who became the first woman and Italian American Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Former Republican New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was a candidate for the U.S. presidency in the 2008 election, as was Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman on a major party ticket, running for Vice President as a Democrat in 1984. Two of the justices of the Supreme Court—Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito—are Italian-Americans, appointed by Republican presidents. Both are members of the conservative wing of the court, along with Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts. The family name of Jill Jacobs Biden, the Second Lady, was originally Giacoppa.

The Italian American Congressional Delegation currently includes 30 members of Congress who are of Italian descent. They are joined by more than 150 associate members who are not Italian American, but have large Italian American constituencies. Since its founding in 1975, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) has worked closely with the bicameral and bipartisan Italian American Congressional Delegation, which is led by co-chairs Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey and Rep. Pat Tiberi of Ohio.

The NIAF hosts a variety of public policy programs, contributing to public discourse on timely policy issues facing the nation and the world. These events are held on Capitol Hill and other locations under the auspices of NIAF's Frank J. Guarini Public Policy Forum and its sister program, the NIAF Public Policy Lecture Series. NIAF's 2009 public policy programs on Capitol Hill featured prominent Italians and Italian Americans as keynote speakers including Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, and Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Italy.

By the 1890s Italian Americans in New York City were mobilizing as a political force. They helped elect Fiorello La Guardia (a Republican) as mayor in 1933, and helped reelect him in 1937, and 1941. They rallied for Vincent R. Impellitteri (a Democrat) in 1950, and Rudolph W. Giuliani (a Republican) in 1989 (when he lost) and in 1993 and 1997 (when he won). All three Italian Americans aggressively fought to reduce crime in the city; each was known for his good relations with the city's powerful labor unions. La Guardia and Giuliani have the reputation among specialists on urban politics as two of the best mayors in American history.

Business and economy

Italian-Americans have served an important role in the economy of the United States, and have founded companies of great national prominence, such as Bank of America (by Amadeo Giannini in 1904), and many companies that have contributed to the local culture and character of U.S. cities, such as Petrini's Markets (founded by Frank Petrini in 1935), among many others. Italian-Americans have also made important contributions to the growth of the U.S. economy through their business expertise, such as the management of the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation by Lee Iacocca.

Workers

About two thirds of America's Italian immigrants arrived during 1900-24. Having little education and industrial skills, most became unskilled laborers heavily concentrated in the cities. The 1970 census revealed, however, that those of the second generation under age 45 had achieved a level of education approaching the national average. While 71% of the second generation men had blue collar jobs, the proportion was down to 52% in the third generation, according to surveys in 1963. Italian-Americans today are one of Americas highest earners and in 1999 Italian-Americans made an average household income of $61,300 a year.

Women

Many in the early Italian communities were poor, but married women typically avoided factory work and chose home-based economic activities such as dressmaking, taking in boarders, and operating small shops in their homes or neighborhoods. Italian neighborhoods also proved attractive to midwives, women who trained in Italy before seeking work in America. Unlike shopkeepers or factory workers, midwives largely chose careers before leaving Italy, and shaped their lives around work rather than their work around their lives.

Italian women fared better in western cities like Denver and San Francisco than did their compatriots in eastern urban centers. Italian women in the first two generations stayed largely within the Little Italies. Married women worked within their homes or in family-owned businesses, while single women held jobs in light industry, but often only temporarily. In the third generation, women who came of age during the 1940s-1950s, opportunities expanded as women gradually were accepted in the workplace and as entrepreneurs. Third-generation women also had much better job opportunities because they had a high school or college education and were willing to leave the Little Italies and commute to work.

Culture

Similar to Italian descendants in other nations such as Brazil and Argentina, most Italian Americans have assumed a mainstream American identity. Many Italian-Americans can trace several generations back in the United States. Many have inter-married with other ethnic groups. They are well represented in all fields of endeavor. Many Italian Americans still retain aspects of their culture. This includes Italian food, drink, art, annual Italian American feasts, and a strong commitment to family, including extended family. Italian Americans influenced popular music, especially in the 1940s and continuing into the 2010s, one of their major contributions to American culture. Additionally, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) – a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. – works to represent Italian Americans, spread knowledge of the Italian language, foster U.S./Italy relations and connect the greater Italian American community.

Literature

A large and growing number of Italian American authors are having success getting their works publishing in America. Some of the authors who have written about the Italian American experience are Pietro Di Donato; Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Dana Gioia, Executive Director of the National Endowment for the Arts; John Fusco, author of ''Paradise Salvage''; Daniela Gioseffi, winner of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry. Poets Sandra (Mortola) Gilbert and Kim Addonizio were also winner of this award from ''Italian Americana'', Vol. 19, no. 1 and Vol. 21, no. 2, respectively; and Helen Barolini, author of ''The Dream Book'', a collection of Italian American women's writings. Both women are American Book Award winners and pioneers of Italian American writing, as is poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan. These women have authored many books depicting Italian American women in a new light.

A scholarly literature has emerged that critiques the literary output. Common themes include conflicts between marginal Italian American and mainstream culture, and tradition-bound immigrant parents opposed by their more assimilated children.

Helen Barolini's ''The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women'' (1985) was the first anthology that pulled together the historic range of writing from the late 19th century to the 1980s. It exhibited the wealth of fiction, poetry, essays, and letters, and paid special attention to the interaction of Italian American women with American social activism.

Mary Jo Bona (1999) provided the first full-length scholarly analysis of the literary tradition. She is especially interested in showing how authors portrayed the many configurations of family relationships, from the early immigrant narratives of journeying to a new world, through novels that stress intergenerational conflicts, to contemporary works about the struggle of modern women to form nontraditional gender roles.

Among the scholars who have led the renaissance in Italian American literature are professors Richard Gambino, Anthony Julian Tamburri, Paolo Giordano, and Fred Gardaphe. The latter three founded Bordighera Press and edited ''From the Margin, An Anthology of Italian American Writing'', Purdue University Press. These men, along with academics like novelist and accomplished critic, Dr. Josephine Gattuso Hendin of New York University, have taught Italian American studies at such institutions as the City University of New York, John D. Calandra Institute, Queens College (CUNY), and Stony Brook University, as well as Brooklyn College, where Dr. Robert Viscusi founded the Italian American Writers Association, and is an author and American Book Award winner, himself.

As a result of the efforts of magazines like ''VIA: Voices in Italian Americana'', "Ambassador", a publication of the National Italian American Foundation and ''Italian Americana'', edited by Carol Bonomo Albright, and numerous authors young and old, as well as early immigrant pioneer writers like poet Emanuel Carnevali ("Furnished Rooms") and novelist Pietro DiDonato, author of ''Christ in Concrete'', Italian Americans are beginning to read more works of their own writers. A supplemental website at www.italianamericana.com to the journal "Italian Americana", edited by novelist Christine Palamidessi Moore, also offers historical articles, stories, memoirs, poetry, and book reviews. A growing number of books about the Italian American experience are published each year. Famed authors such as Don DeLillo, Giannina Braschi, Gilbert Sorrentino, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gay Talese, John Fante Tina DeRosa, Kim Addonizio, Daniela Gioseffi, and Dana Gioia have broken into mainstream American literature and publishing. Many of these authors' books and writings are easily found on the internet, as well as in bibliographies online at Stonybrook University's Italian American Studies Department in New York, or at the Italian American Writers Association website. Dana Gioia was Poetry Editor of ''Italian Americana'' from 1993 to 2003. He initiated an educational series in which a featured poet talked about his/her work with poet Kim Addonizio as his first Featured Poet selection. Poet Michael Palma continues Dana Gioia's work in the journal. He also selects poems for ''Italian Americana''s webpage supplement.

Italian Americans have written not only about the Italian American experience but, indeed, the broader human experience. Some of the most popular inspirational books have been authored by Italian Americans - notably, those of Og Mandino, Max Lucado, Leo Buscaglia and Antoinette Bosco. A series of inspirational books for children has been written by Tomie dePaola. Contemporary best-selling fiction writers include David Baldacci, Kate DiCamillo and Lisa Scottoline.

Religion

The vast majority of the Italian Americans are Catholics, at least nominally. Four hundred Italian Jesuit priests left Italy for the American West between 1848-1919. Most of these Jesuits left their homeland involuntarily, expelled by Italian nationalists in the successive waves of Italian unification that dominated Italy. When they came to the West, they ministered to Indians in the Northwest, Irish-Americans in San Francisco and Mexican Americans in the South West; they also ran the nation's most influential Catholic seminary, in Woodstock, Md. In addition to their pastoral work, they founded numerous high schools and colleges, including Regis University, Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco, Gonzaga University and Seattle University.

In some Sicilian American communities, primarily Buffalo and New Orleans, Saint Joseph's Day (March 19) is marked by parades and celebrations, including traditional "St. Joseph's tables", where meatless dishes are served for the benefit of the communities' poor. Columbus Day is also widely celebrated, as are the feasts of some regional Italian patron saints. In Boston's North End, the Italian immigrants celebrate the "Feast of all Feasts" Saint Anthony's Feast. Started by Italian immigrants from Montefalcione, a small town near Naples, Italy in 1919, the feast is widely considered the largest and most authentic Italian Religious festival in the United States. Over 100 vendors and 300,000 people attend the feast over a 3 day period in August. San Gennaro is another popular saint, especially amung Neapolitans. Santa Rosalia (September 4), by immigrants from Sicily. Immigrants from Potenza celebrate the San Rocco's Day (August 16) feast at the Potenza Lodge in Denver the third weekend of August. San Rocco is the patron saint of Potenza, as is San Gerardo. Many still celebrate the Christmas season with a Feast of the Seven Fishes. The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated in Cleveland's Little Italy on August 15. On this feast day, people will pin money on a Blessed Virgin Mary statue as a symbol of prosperity. The statue is then paraded through Little Italy to Holy Rosary Church. For almost 25 years, Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla would join in the parade and Mass to celebrate his Italian heritage. Bishop Pilla retired in April 2006, but continues to participate.

While most Italian-American families have a Catholic background, there are converts to Protestantism as well. In the early 20th century, about 300 Protestant missionaries worked in urban Italian American neighborhoods. Some have joined the Episcopal Church, which still retains much of the Catholic liturgical form. Some have converted to evangelical churches. Fiorello La Guardia was an Episcopalian on his father's side; his mother was from the small but significant community of Italian Jews. Frank Santora is an ex-Catholic Italian-American pastor of Faith Church, an evangelical megachurch in New Milford, Connecticut. There is a small charismatic denomination, known as the Christian Church of North America, which is rooted in the Italian Pentecostal Movement that originated in Chicago in the early 20th century. A group of Italian immigrants in Trenton, New Jersey converted to the Baptist denomination. Max Lucado—bestselling author, alumnus of Abilene Christian University, and preacher in the Churches of Christ—is a prominent leader. The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement that counts significant numbers of Italian-Americans in its leadership and membership.

Education

According to Census Bureau data, Italian Americans have an average high school graduation rate, and a higher rate of advanced degrees compared to the national average. Italian Americans throughout the United States are well represented in a wide variety of occupations and professions, from skilled trades, to the arts, to engineering, science, mathematics, law, and medicine, and include a number of Nobel prize winners. Within six decades of their peak immigration year, Italian Americans had equaled the national average in educational attainment.

Language

According to the Sons of Italy News Bureau, from 1998 to 2002 the enrollment in college Italian language courses grew by 30%, faster than the enrollment rates for French and German. Italian is the fourth most commonly taught foreign language in U.S. colleges and universities behind Spanish, French, and German. According to the U.S. 2000 Census, Italian (including Sicilian) is the fifth (seventh overall) most spoken language in the United States (tied with Vietnamese) with over 1 million speakers.

As a result of the large wave of Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Italian and Sicilian were once widely spoken in much of the U.S., especially in northeastern and Great Lakes area cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, as well as San Francisco, St. Louis and New Orleans. Italian-language newspapers exist in many American cities, especially New York City, and Italian-language movie theatres existed in the U.S. as late as the 1950s. ''Arba Sicula'' (Sicilian Dawn) is a semiannual publication of the society of the same name, dedicated to preserving the Sicilian language. The magazine and a periodic newsletter offer prose, poetry and comment in Sicilian, with adjacent English translations.

Today, prizes like the Bordighera Annual Poetry Prize, founded by Daniela Gioseffi, Pietro Mastrandrea and Alfredo di Palchi, with support from the Sonia Rraiziss-Giop Foundation and Bordighera Press, which publishes the winners in bilingual editions, have helped to encourage writers of the diaspora to write in Italian. Chelsea Books in New York City and Gradiva Press on Long Island have published many bilingual books due to the efforts of bilingual writers of the diaspora like Paolo Valesio, Alfredo de Palchi, and Luigi Fontanella. Dr. Luigi Bonaffini of the City University of New York, publisher of ''The Journal of Italian Translation'' at Brooklyn College, has fostered Italian dialectic poetry throughout his homeland and the U.S. Joseph Tusiani of New York and New York University, a distinguished linguist and prize-winning poet born in Italy, paved the way for Italian works of literature in English and has published many bilingual books and Italian classics for the American audience, among them the first complete works of Michelangelo's poems in English to be published in the United States. All of this literary endeavor has helped to foster the Italian language, along with Italian opera, of course, in the United States. Many of these authors and their bilingual books are located throughout the internet.

Author Lawrence Distasi argues that the loss of spoken Italian among the Italian American population can be tied to U.S. government pressures during World War II. During World War II, in various parts of the country, the U.S. government displayed signs that read, "Don't Speak the Enemy's Language". Such signs designated the languages of the Axis powers, German, Japanese, and Italian, as "enemy languages". Shortly after the Axis powers declared war on the U.S., many Italian, Japanese and German citizens were interned. Among the Italian Americans, those who spoke Italian, who had never become citizens, and who belonged to groups that praised Benito Mussolini, were most likely to become candidates for internment. Distasi claims that many Italian language schools closed down in the San Francisco Bay Area within a week of the U.S. declaration of war on the Axis powers. Such closures were inevitable since most of the teachers in Italian languages were interned.

Despite previous decline, Italian and Sicilian are still spoken and studied by those of Italian American descent, and it can be heard in various American communities, especially among older Italian Americans. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, interest in Italian language and culture has surged among Italian Americans.

The official Italian that is taught in colleges and universities is an amalgam of the Tuscan and Roman dialects. It is generally not the "Italian" with which Italian Americans are generally acquainted. Because the languages spoken by Italian Americans come from a time just after the unification of Italy, their languages are in many ways archaic and resemble the dialects of Southern Italy of pre-unification Italy, and the Sicilian language. These variations, though still spoken along with Standard Italian (Tuscan/Roman), have also evolved in minor ways.

Despite it being the fifth most studied language in higher education (college and graduate) settings throughout America, the Italian language has struggled to maintain being an AP course of study in high schools nationwide. It was only in 2006 that AP Italian classes were first introduced, and they were soon dropped from the national curricula after the spring of 2009. The organization which manages such curricula, the College Board, ended the AP Italian program because it was "losing money" and had failed to add 5,000 new students each year. Since the program's termination in the spring of 2009, various Italian organizations and activists have attempted to revive the course of study. Most notable in the effort is Margaret Cuomo, sister of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. She provided the impetus for the program's birth in 2006 and is currently attempting to secure funding and teachers to reinstate the program. It is also worth noting that Italian organizations have begun fundraisers to revive AP Italian. Organizations such as the NIAF and Order Sons of Italy in America have made strides in collecting money, and are prepared to aid in the monetary responsibility any new AP Italian program would bring with it.

Moreover, web-based Italian organizations, such as ItalianAware, have begun book donation campaigns to improve the status and representation of Italian and Italian American literature in the New York public libraries. According to ItalianAware, the Brooklyn Public Library is the worst offender in New York City. It has 11 books pertaining to the Italian immigrant experience available for checkout spread across 60 branches. That amounts to 1 book for every 6 branches in Brooklyn, which (according to ItalianAware) cannot supply the large Italian/Italian American community in the borough. ItalianAware aims to donate 100 books to the Brooklyn Public Library by the end of 2010.

Newspapers

Generoso Pope (1891–1950), the owner of a chain of Italian-language newspapers in major cities, stands out as the epitome of the Italian American ethnic political broker. He bought ''Il Progresso Italo-Americano'' in 1928 for $2 million; he doubled its circulation to 200,000 in New York City, making it the largest Italian-language paper in the country. He purchased additional papers in New York and Philadelphia, which became the chief source of political, social, and cultural information for the community. Pope encouraged his readers to learn English, become citizens, and vote; his goal was to instill pride and ambition to succeed in modern America. A conservative Democrat who ran the Columbus Day parade and admired Mussolini, Pope was the most powerful enemy of anti-Fascism among Italian Americans. Closely associated with Tammany Hall politics in New York, Pope and his newspapers played a vital role in securing the Italian vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt's Democratic tickets. He served as chairman of the Italian Division of the Democratic National Committee in 1936, and helped persuade the president to take a neutral attitude over Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. He broke with Mussolini in 1941 and enthusiastically supported the American war effort. In the late 1940s Pope supported the election of William O'Dwyer as mayor in 1945 and Harry S. Truman as president. His business concerns continued to prosper under New York's Democratic administrations, and in 1946 he added the Italian language radio station WHOM to his media holdings. In the early years of the Cold War, Pope was a leading anti-Communist and orchestrated a letter-writing campaign by his subscribers to stop the Communists from winning the Italian elections in 1948.

Voters did not always vote the way editorials dictated, but they depended on the news coverage. At many smaller papers, support for Mussolini, short-sighted opportunism, deference to political patrons who were not members of the Italian-American communities, and the necessity of making a living through periodicals with a small circulation, generally weakened the owners of Italian-language newspapers when they tried to become political brokers of the Italian American vote.

James V. Donnaruma purchased Boston's ''La Gazzetta del Massachusetts'' in 1905. ''La Gazzetta'' enjoyed a wide readership in Boston's Italian community because it emphasized detailed coverage of local ethnic events and explained how events in Europe affected the community. Donnaruma's editorial positions, however, were frequently at odds with the sentiments of his readership. Donnaruma's conservative views and desire for greater advertising revenue prompted him to court the favor of Boston's Republican elite, to whom he pledged editorial support in return for the purchase of advertising space for political campaigns. ''La Gazzetta'' consistently supported Republican candidates and policy positions, even when the party was proposing and passing laws to restrict Italian immigration. Nevertheless, voting records from the 1920s-1930s show that Boston's Italian Americans voted heavily for Democratic candidates. Carmelo Zito took over the San Francisco newspaper ''Il Corriere del Popolo'' in 1935. Under Zito, it became one of the fiercest foes of Mussolini's fascism on the West Coast. It vigorously attacked Italy's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia and its intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Zito helped form the Italian-American Anti-Fascist League and often attacked certain Italian prominenti like Ettore Patrizi, publisher of ''L'Italia'' and ''La Voce del Popolo''. Zito's paper campaigned against alleged Italian pro-Fascist language schools of San Francisco.

Folklore

The most characteristic and popular of Italian American cultural contributions has been their feasts. Throughout the United States, wherever one may find an "Italian neighborhood" (often referred to as "Little Italy"), one can find festive celebrations such as the well known Feast of San Gennaro in New York City, the unique Our Lady of Mount Carmel "Giglio" Feast in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, Italian feasts involve elaborate displays of devotion to Jesus Christ and patron saints. On the weekend of the last Sunday in August, the residents of Boston's North End celebrate the "Feast of all Feasts" in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, which was started over 300 years ago in Montefalcione, Italy. Perhaps the most widely known is St. Joseph's feast day on March 19. These feasts are much more than simply isolated events within the year. Feast (''Festa'' in Italian) is an umbrella term for the various secular and religious, indoor and outdoor activities surrounding a religious holiday. Typically, Italian feasts consist of festive communal meals, religious services, games of chance and skill and elaborate outdoor processions consisting of statues resplendent in jewels and donations. The celebration usually takes place over the course of several days, and is communally prepared by a church community or a religious organization over the course of several months.

Currently, there are more than 300 Italian feasts celebrated throughout the United States. The largest is Festa Italiana, held in Milwaukee every summer. These feasts are visited each year by millions of Americans from various backgrounds who come together to enjoy Italian music and food delicacies. In the past, as to this day, an important part of Italian American culture centers around music and cuisine.

Stereotyping

During the period of mass immigration to the United States, Italians suffered widespread discrimination in housing and employment. They were often victims of prejudice, economic exploitation, and sometimes even violence, particularly in the South. Italian stereotypes abounded as a means of justifying this maltreatment of the immigrants. The print media greatly contributed to the stereotyping of Italians with lurid accounts of secret societies and criminality. In the 1890–1920 period, Italian neighborhoods were often stereotyped as violent and controlled by criminals. Two highly publicized cases illustrate the impact of these negative stereotypes:

In 1891, eleven Italian immigrants in New Orleans were lynched due to their alleged role in the murder of the police chief David Hennessey. This was one of the largest mass lynchings in U.S. history. The lynching took place after nine of the immigrants were tried for the murder and acquitted. Subsequently, a mob broke into the jail where they were being held and dragged them out to be lynched, together with two other Italians who were being held in the jail at the time, but had not been accused in the killing.

In 1920, two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were tried for robbery and murder in Braintree, Massachusetts. Many historians agree that they were given a very unfair and biased trial because of their anarchistic political beliefs and their Italian immigrant status. In spite of world-wide protests, Sacco and Vanzetti were eventually executed.

While the vast majority of Italians immigrants brought with them a tradition of honesty and hard work, others brought a very different old-world custom. This criminal element preyed on the immigrants of the Little Italies, using intimidation and threats to extract protection money from the wealthier immigrants and shop owners, and were also involved in a multitude of other illegal activities. When the Fascists came to power in Italy, they made the destruction of the Mafia in Sicily a high priority. Hundreds fled to America in the 1920s and '30s to avoid prosecution.

Prohibition, which went into effect in 1932, proved to be an economic boon for those in the Italian American community already involved in illegal activities, and those who had fled from Sicily. This entailed smuggling liquor into the country, wholesaling it, and then selling it through a network of outlets. While other ethnic groups were also involved in these illegal ventures, Italian Americans were among the most notorious. Though eventually repealed, Prohibition had a long-term effect as the spawning ground for later criminal activities.

In the 1950s, the scope of Italian American organized crime became well known though a number of highly publicized congressional hearings that followed a police raid on a top-level meeting of racketeers in Apalachin, New York. With advanced surveillance techniques, the Witness Protection Program, the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act, and vigorous and sustained prosecution the power and influence of organized crime were greatly diminished in the decades that followed. Two Italian American prosecutors, Rudy Giuliani and Louis Freeh, were instrumental in bringing this about. Freeh was later appointed director of the FBI.

From the earliest days of the movie industry, Italians have been portrayed as violent criminals and sociopaths. This trend has continued to the present day. The stereotype of Italian Americans is the standardized mental image which has been fostered by the entertainment industry, especially through movies like ''The Godfather'', ''Goodfellas'' and ''Casino'', and TV programs such as ''The Sopranos''. This follows a known pattern in which it is possible for the mass media to effectively create universally recognized, and sometimes accepted, stereotypes.

A highly publicized protest from the Italian America community came in 2001 when the Chicago-based organization AIDA (American Italian Defamation Association) unsuccessfully sued Time Warner for distribution of HBO's series ''The Sopranos'' because of its negative portrayal of Italian Americans. More recently, MTV launched a reality show, ''Jersey Shore'', which prompted severe criticism from Italian American organizations such as the National Italian American Foundation, Order Sons of Italy in America, and Unico National for its stereotypical portrayal of Italian Americans.

The stereotyping of Italian Americans as being associated with organized crime was shown by a comprehensive study of Italian American culture on film, conducted from 1996 to 2001, by the Italic Institute of America. The findings showed that over two thirds of the more than 2,000 films studied portray Italian Americans in a negative light. Further, close to 300 movies featuring Italian Americans as criminals have been produced since ''The Godfather'', an average of nine per year. The study also brings to light that, according to recent FBI statistics, Italian American organized crime members and associates number approximately 3,000; and, given an Italian American population estimated to be approximately 18 million, it may be concluded that only one in 6,000 has any involvement with organized crime. According to The Italic Institute of America: ''The mass media has consistently ignored five centuries of Italian American history, and has elevated what was never more than a minute subculture to the dominant Italian American culture.

Communities

Little Italies were, to a considerable extent, the product of Italophobia by the English-speaking, WASP society. Ethnocentrism and anti-Catholicism by Protestant English-speakers helped to create an ideological foundation for fixing foreignness on urban spaces occupied by immigrants, who seemed racially different from the earlier Anglo-Celtic and northern European settlers. Communities of Italian Americans were established in most major industrial cities of the early 20th century, such as Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts (the "North End"); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Kansas City, Missouri. New Orleans, Louisiana was the first site of immigration of Italians and Sicilians into America in the 19th century, before Italy was a unified nation-state. This was before New York Harbor and Baltimore became the preferred destinations for Italian immigrants. In sharp contrast to the Northeast, most of the Southern states (exceptions being the Atlantic coast of Florida, New Orleans, and a fast-growing community in Atlanta) have very few Italian-American residents. During the labor shortage in the 19th and early 20th centuries, planters in the Deep South did attract some Italian immigrants to work as sharecroppers, but they soon left the extreme anti-Italian discrimination and strict regimen of the plantations for towns or other states. The state of California has had Italian-American residents since the 1850s. By the 1970s gentrification of inner city neighborhoods and the arrival of new immigrant groups caused a sharp decline in the old Italian-American and other ethnic enclaves. Many Italian Americans moved to the rapidly growing Western states, including Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and California. Today, New York and New Jersey have the largest numbers of Italian Americans in the U.S.

New York

Several Little Italies exist in New York City, including Manhattan, Bronx, Bensonhurst, Howard Beach and Rosebank. Historically, Little Italy on Mulberry Street in Manhattan, extends as far south as Canal Street, as far north as Bleecker, as far west as Lafayette and as far east as the Bowery. The neighborhood was once known for its large population of Italians. Today it consists of Italian stores and restaurants. The Italian immigrants congregated along Mulberry Street in Manhattan's ''Little Italy'' to celebrate San Gennaro as the Patron Saint of Naples. The ''Feast of San Gennaro'' is a large street fair, lasting 11 days, that takes place every September along Mulberry Street between Houston and Canal Streets. The festival is as an annual celebration of Italian culture and the Italian-American community. Today, much of the neighborhood has been absorbed and engulfed by Chinatown, as immigrants from China moved to the area. Arthur Avenue in the Fordham section of New York City's northernmost borough, The Bronx, was once the heart of the Bronx's "Little Italy". Robert De Niro's directing debut, ''A Bronx Tale'', takes place within Little Italy, however, it was largely filmed in Astoria, Queens. The series ''Third Watch'' was initially based on Arthur Avenue, with the first episode referring to the firehouse as "Camelot", based on its location at the intersection of King Street and Arthur Avenue. The 1973 film "The Seven-Ups", starring Roy Scheider, was filmed on Arthur Avenue and Hoffman Street. In 2003, a scene from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' was shot in Mario's Restaurant. Leonard, of James Frey's ''A Million Little Pieces'', grew up in this area. Much of the novel ''Underworld'' takes place near Arthur Avenue. The author himself, Don DeLillo, grew up in that neighborhood. Bensonhurst is heavily Italian-American, and it is usually considered the main "Little Italy" of Brooklyn. The Italian-speaking community remains over 20,000 strong, according to the census of 2000. However, the Italian-speaking community is becoming "increasingly elderly and isolated, with the small, tight-knit enclaves they built around the city slowly disappearing as they give way to demographic changes". Its main thoroughfare, 18th Avenue (also known as Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard) between roughly 60th Street and Shore Parkway, is lined with predominantly small, Italian family-owned businesses—many of which have remained in the same family for several generations. 86th Street is another popular local thoroughfare, lined by the arches of the elevated BMT West End Subway Line. The 18th Avenue Station was popularized in opening credits of ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. Rosebank in Staten Island was another one of NYC's main area of Italian immigrants since the 1880s, and their descendants have continued as its predominant ethnic group, exemplified by the location of the Garibaldi Memorial in the community. In recent years the town has experienced an influx of other ethnic groups, including Eastern Europeans, various Latin nationalities as well as Asians, particularly from the Philippines. Howard Beach in the Queens is also home to a large Italian population.

Newark

In its heyday, Seventh Avenue in Newark was one of the largest Little Italies in the U.S. with a population of 30,000, in an area of less than a square mile. The center of life in the neighborhood was St. Lucy's Church, founded by Italian immigrants in 1891. Throughout the year, St. Lucy's and other churches sponsored processions in honor of saints that became community events. The most famous procession was the Feast of St. Gerard, but there were also great feasts for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Snow, the Assumption, and St. Rocco. Joe DiMaggio loved the restaurants of Seventh Avenue so much that he would take the New York Yankees to Newark to show them "real Italian food". Frank Sinatra had bread from Giordano's Bakery sent to him every week until his death, no matter where in the world he was. New York Yankees catcher Rick Cerone also grew up in the First Ward. One of the nation's largest Italian newspapers, ''The Italian Tribune'', was founded on Seventh Avenue. Seventh Avenue produced stars such as Joe Pesci and Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons. Congressman Peter Rodino, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during its impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon was a native of the First Ward as well. Seventh Avenue was notoriously devastated by urban renewal efforts during the 1950s. Eighth Avenue was obliterated by the city council, scattering the Italian American residents. Most of its businesses never recovered. The construction of Interstate 280 also served to cut the neighborhood off from the rest of the city. After the devastating urban renewal, some of the First Ward's Italians stayed in the neighborhood, while others migrated to other Newark neighborhoods like Broadway, Roseville, and the Ironbound.

Syracuse

Italian immigrants first came to the area around Syracuse, New York in 1883 after providing labor for the construction of the West Shore Railroad. At first, they were quite transient and came and went, but eventually settled down on the Northside. By 1899, the Italian immigrants were living on the Northside of the city in the area centered around Pearl Street. The Italians all but supplanted the Germans in that area of the city and had their own business district along North State and North Salina Streets. By September 2009, Syracuse's Little Italy district received millions of dollars of public and private investment for new sidewalks, streetscapes, landscaping, lighting and to set up a "Green Train" program, which trains men to work in green construction and renovation industries. In recent years, the neighborhood is a mix of Italian shops, restaurants and businesses that cater to the area's South Asian and African population, and vacant storefronts. Although the neighborhood is far less Italian than in past years, banners throughout the district still read ''Little Italy''. By 2010, demographics showed that 14.1% of the population in Syracuse was Italian descent.

Providence

Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, is best known for its Italian American community and abundance of restaurants. The first two decades of the 20th century witnessed heavy Italian-American immigration into Federal Hill, making it the city's informal Little Italy. Though the area today is more diverse, Federal Hill still retains its status as the traditional center for the city's Italian-American community. The neighborhood features a huge square dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, a monumental gateway arch decorated with La Pigna sculpture (a traditional Italian symbol of welcome, abundance, and quality) and a DePasquale Plaza used for outdoor dining. Providence's annual Columbus Day parade marches down Atwells Avenue.

Boston

North End in Boston since the early 20th century became the center of the Italian community of Boston. It is still largely residential and well-known for its small, authentic Italian restaurants and for the first Italian cafe, Caffe Vittoria. The influx of Italian inhabitants has left a lasting mark on the area; many seminal Italian American institutions have called Boston's North End their home. Some multi-national Italian products companies that began in the North End include Prince Pasta and the Pastene Corporation. Prince Pasta was begun by three Sicilian immigrants Gaetano LaMarco, Giuseppe Seminara, and Michele Cantella. Pastene was formed by Sicilian immigrant Luigi Pastene. Both companies have grown into million dollar a year businesses, and continue to succeed to this day. To fully understand the sheer size of the Italian immigrant population, one must look back at the groups that preceded them. The Irish, at their peak, numbered roughly 14,000 and the Jews numbered 17,000. The Italians, however, peaked at over 44,000.

Chicago

Chicago's legendary Taylor Street has been called the port of call for Chicago's Italian American immigrants. Taylor Street's Little Italy became the laboratory upon which Hull House, America's first settlement house, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr in 1889, tested its sociological theories and formulated its protests to the Establishment. The Italian American experience, as documented in the chronicles of Chicago's Taylor Street Archives, receives a unique treatment, abandoning political correctness in favor of some hard-hitting, finger-pointing historical accuracies. Chicago's Italian American experience begins with the mass migration from the shores of southern Italy, the Hull House experiment, the Great Depression, World War II, and the machinations behind the physical demise of a neighborhood by the University of Illinois in 1963.

Italian Americans dominated the inner core of the Hull House neighborhood, 1890s–1930s. One of the first newspaper articles about Hull House (''Chicago Tribune'', May 19, 1890) acknowledges the following invitation, written in Italian, sent to the residents of the Hull House neighborhood. It begins with the following salutation: "Mio Carissimo Amico", and is signed, "Le Signorine, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr". The Bethlehem-Howard Neighborhood Center Records further substantiate the observation that, as early as the 1890s, the inner core of "The Hull House Neighborhood", from the river on the east, Roosevelt Road on the south, Harrison Street on the north, and on out to the neighborhood's western most boundaries, was virtually all Italian.

The 1924 historic picture, "Meet the 'Hull House Kids'", was taken by Wallace K. Kirkland Sr., one of the Hull House directors. It served as a poster for Jane Addams and the Hull House Settlement House. All twenty kids were first generation Italian Americans...all with vowels at the end of their names. "They grew up to be lawyers and mechanics, sewer workers and dump truck drivers, a candy shop owner, a boxer and a mob boss." That picture became a classic and was circulated throughout the world.

Chicago's current and official "little Italy" is concentrated on the city's northwestern side and neighboring Elmwood Park, which has the highest concentration of Italian Americans in the state. Harlem Avenue, "La Corsa Italia", is lined with Italian stores, bakeries, clubs and organizations. The Feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel, in nearby Melrose Park, has been a regular event in the area for more than one hundred years. The near-west suburbs of Elmwood Park, Melrose Park, Schiller Park, Franklin Park, River Grove, Norridge, Chicago Heights, and Harwood Heights are where many Italian Americans live. Suburban Stone Park is home of Casa Italia and the area's Italian American cultural center.

Milwaukee

Italians first came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the late 19th century. Then in the 19th and 20th centuries large numbers of Italian immigrants began to come in mainly from Sicily and southern Italy. Brady Street, the historic Third Ward and the east side of Milwaukee is considered the heart of Italian immigration to the city, where as many as 20 Italian grocery stores once existed on Brady Street alone. Every year the largest Italian American festival in the United States, Festa Italiana, takes place in Milwaukee. Italians number at around 40,000 in the city, but in Milwaukee County they number at 110,000. There is also an Italian newspaper called ''The Italian Times'' printed by the Italian Community Center (ICC).

Ybor City

The community of Ybor City in Tampa, Florida is a cigar-centric company town founded in 1885 and originally populated by a unique mix of Spanish, Cuban, Jewish, and Italian immigrants, with most of the Italians coming from a small group of villages in southwestern Sicily. At first, Italians found it difficult to find employment in the insular and guild-like cigar industry, which had moved to Tampa from Cuba and Key West and was dominated by Hispanic workers. Many founded businesses to serve cigar workers, most notably small grocery stores in the neighborhood's commercial district supplied by Italian-owned vegetable and dairy farms located on open land east of Tampa's city limits. The immigrant cultures in town became better integrated as time went by; eventually, approximately 20% of the workers in the cigar industry were Italian Americans. The tradition of local Italian-owned groceries continued, however, and a handful of such businesses founded in the late 1800s were still operating into the 21st century Many descendants of Sicilian immigrants eventually became prominent local citizens, such as mayors Nick Nuccio and Dick Greco.

Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, was representative of smaller industrial centers. Most Italians in the early 20th century came to work in the burgeoning iron and coal industries. Dorothy L. Crim founded the Ensley Community House in the Italian district in 1912 at the behest of the Birmingham City Mission Board. From 1912 to 1969, Ensley House eased the often difficult transition to American life by providing direct assistance such as youth programs and day care services, social clubs, and 'Americanization' programs.

San Francisco

North Beach is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture. Today, North Beach is one of San Francisco's main red light and nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families and Chinese immigrants connected to the adjacent Chinatown. Thanks to its valuable architectural heritage, the American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach as one of ten 'Great Neighborhoods in America'.

San Diego

Historically, Little Italy in San Diego was the home to Italian fishermen and their families. Many Italians moved to San Diego from San Francisco after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in search of tuna and other deep-sea sport and commercial fish. When Interstate 5 was constructed through Little Italy in the early 1970s, 35% of the neighborhood was destroyed and during the same time the California tuna industry was declining, which caused the neighborhood to suffer nearly 30 years of decline. With the creation of the Little Italy Association in 1996, the neighborhood has gone through gentrification and has seen a renaissance as Community Benefit District specializing in Italian food, boutique shopping and maintenance that makes this shopping district the place to live in Downtown San Diego. Prior to gentrification, the neighborhood was mainly composed of low-density commercial businesses and single-family detached homes. Currently, the neighborhood is mainly composed of residential units, mostly mid-rises, high-rises, and lofts, with ground floor retail stores and a few commercial buildings.

Demographics

In the 2000 U.S. Census, Italian Americans constituted the fifth largest ancestry group in America with about 15.6 million people, 5.6% of the total U.S. population. Sicilian Americans are a subset of numerous Americans of regional Italian ancestries. As of 2006, the U.S. Census estimated the Italian-American population at 17.8 million persons, or 6% of the population, constituting a 14% increase over the six year period.

U.S. States with over 100,000 people of Italian ancestry

[[Image:Most common ancestries in the United States.svg|400px|thumb|right|Plurality ancestry in each state, ranging from 11.8% (FL) to 43.9% (ND). ]]

The U.S. States with over 100,000 people of Italian ancestry in 2000:

# New York 2,737,146 # New Jersey 1,503,637 # California 1,450,884 # Pennsylvania 1,418,465 # Florida 1,003,977 # Massachusetts 860,079 # Illinois 744,274 # Ohio 675,749 # Connecticut 634,364 # Michigan 450,952 # Texas 363,354 # Maryland 267,573 # Virginia 257,129 # Arizona 224,795 #Colorado 201,787 # Rhode Island 199,077 # Louisiana 195,561 #Washington 191,442 #Missouri 176,209 # Wisconsin 172,578 # Georgia 163,218 #Nevada 132,515 #Indiana 141,486 #Oregon 111,462 #Minnesota 111,270 #New Hampshire 105,610

U.S. States with over 10% people of Italian ancestry

# Rhode Island 19.0% # Connecticut 18.6% # New Jersey 17.9% # New York 14.4% # Massachusetts 14.2% # Pennsylvania 11.6%

U.S. Communities with the most residents of Italian ancestry

The top 25 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Italian ancestry are:

# Johnston, Rhode Island 46.7% # Hammonton, New Jersey 45.9% # Frankfort, New York (village) 44.7% # East Haven, Connecticut 43.1% # Roseto, Pennsylvania 41.8% # Franklin Square, New York 40.0% # North Massapequa, New York 38.9% # Frankfort, New York 38.5% # Totowa, New Jersey 37.7% # Lowellville, Ohio 37.4% # Fairfield, New Jersey 37.2% # North Providence, Rhode Island 36.6% # Thornwood, New York 36.5% # South Hackensack, New Jersey 36.3% # Hawthorne, New York 36.2% # Nutley, New Jersey 36.0% # Jessup, Pennsylvania 35.9% # Revere, Massachusetts (greatest percentage of any city) 35.7% # East Hanover, New Jersey 35.6 # Harrison, New York 34.9% # Deer Park, New York 34.9% # West Paterson, New Jersey 34.3% # Valhalla, New York 34.2% # Lyndhurst, New Jersey 33.8% # North Haven, Connecticut 33.7%

See also

Anti-Italianism

European American

Hyphenated American

Immigration to the United States

Italian-American cuisine

Italian diaspora

Italy–USA Foundation

List of Italian Americans

Padrone system

Utah Italians

References and notes

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;Primary sources

Moquin, Wayne, ed. '"A Documentary History of Italian Americans'' (1974)

Tamburri, Anthony Julian, Paolo A. Giordano, Fred L. Gardaphé, eds. ''From the Margin: Writings in Italian Americana'' (2000, 2nd ed.)

External links

Italian american websites at the Open Directory Project.

Italy Revisited (photo archives)

Taylor Street Archives

Category:Ethnic groups in the United States American

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