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Indian Americans

Nikki Haley Bobby Jindal Fareed Zakaria Rajiv Shah Vivek Kundra Kalpen Modi Kalpana Chawla Padma Lakshmi
Total population
Indian alone: 2,843,391[1] 0.9% of the U.S. population (2010) Multiracial: 3,183,063[2] 1.0% of the U.S. population (2010)
Regions with significant populations
New Jersey · New York City · Atlanta · Baltimore-Washington · Boston · Chicago · Dallas · Houston · Los Angeles · Philadelphia · San Francisco Bay Area
Languages
American English · Hindi[3][4] · Gujarati[3][4] · other Indian languages[4]
Religion
Hinduism · Sikhism · Buddhism · Jainism · Christianity · Islam · Zoroastrianism · others
Related ethnic groups
Indian Diaspora · Indian people Indo-Canadians · Indo-Caribbeans · British Indians

Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with the indigenous peoples of the Americas commonly referred to as American Indians.

History[link]

The term: Indian[link]

In North America, the term Indian has an ambiguous meaning. In the western hemisphere, historically and currently, Indian has been commonly used to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Qualifying terms such as American Indian and East Indian were and are commonly used to avoid ambiguity.

While East Indian remains in use, South Asian is often chosen instead. The U.S. government coined Native American to refer to the indigenous peoples of the United States, but American Indian remains popular among the indigenous and general populations.

People of Indian origin often prefer the term Desi to refer to the diasporic subculture of South Asians. Indian Americans are categorized as Asian Indian (and more broadly, Asian American) by the United States Census Bureau.

Arrival in the U.S.[link]

It was after the Luce–Celler Act of 1946, that Indian Americans were restored naturalization rights in the United States.^[5] A number of Indian Americans came to the U.S. via Indian communities in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, in both of which 2% of the population is currently of Indian origin,^[6] Mauritius, nations of Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Guyana, Fiji, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica.

Demographics[link]

According to the 2010 U.S. Census,^[7] the Asian Indian population in the United States grew from almost 1,678,765 in 2000 (0.6% of U.S. population) to 2,843,391 in 2010 (0.9% of U.S. population), a growth rate of 69.37%, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.^{[8][9][10][11]}

India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, is one of at least 20 Indian American enclaves characterized as a Little India which have emerged within the New York City Metropolitan Area.

The New York metropolitan area, consisting of New York City, Long Island, and adjacent areas within New York, as well as nearby areas within the states of New Jersey (extending to Trenton), Connecticut (extending to Bridgeport), and including Pike County, Pennsylvania, is home to approximately 557,000 Indian Americans as of the 2010 Census, comprising by far the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the United States. New York City itself contains the highest Indian American population of any city proper, at approximately 195,000. As of June 2011, Indian airline carriers Air India and Jet Airways as well as United States airline carrier Continental Airlines were all offering flights from the New York City Metropolitan Area to and from India. At least twenty Indian American enclaves characterized as a Little India have emerged in the New York City Metropolitan Area.

Other metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations include Atlanta, Baltimore–Washington, Boston, Chicago, Dallas – Ft. Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco – San Jose – Oakland.

U.S. metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations[link]