Armenian Americans

Armenian Americans
Total population
519,001 (2020 census)[1]
Armenian alone or in any combination
360,166 Armenian alone[2]
800,000–1,500,000 (other estimates)
0.15–0.5% of the US population
Regions with significant populations
Greater Los Angeles Area (especially Glendale)  · Fresno, California · New York City · Boston (especially Watertown) · Chicago · Detroit  • other urban areas
Languages
Armenian · American English
Religion
Christianity (predominantly Armenian Apostolic with Armenian Catholic and Evangelical minorities)
Part of a series on
Armenians
Armenian culture
By country or region
Armenian diaspora
Subgroups
Religion
Languages and dialects
Armenian: Eastern (Zok) • Western (Homshetsi)
Sign languages: Armenian Sign • Caucasian Sign
Persian: Armeno-Tat
Cuman: Armeno-Kipchak
Armenian–Lom: Lomavren
Persecution

Armenian Americans (Armenian: ամերիկահայեր, romanized: amerikahayer) are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia.[3] The first major wave of Armenian immigration to the United States took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of Armenians settled in the United States following the Hamidian massacres of the mid-1890s, the Adana massacre of 1909, and the Armenian genocide of 1915–1918 in the Ottoman Empire. Since the 1950s many Armenians from the Middle East (especially from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey) migrated to the United States as a result of political instability in the region. It accelerated in the late 1980s and has continued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 due to socio-economic and political reasons. The Los Angeles area has the largest Armenian population in the United States.

The 2020 United States census reported that 519,001 Americans held full or partial Armenian roots either alone or combined with another ancestral origin.[4] Various organizations and media criticize these numbers as an underestimate, proposing 800,000 to 1,500,000 Armenian Americans instead. The highest concentration of Americans of Armenian descent is in the Greater Los Angeles area, where 166,498 people have identified themselves as Armenian to the 2000 Census, comprising over 40% of the 385,488 people who identified Armenian origins in the United States at the time. The city of Glendale, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, is widely thought to be the center of Armenian American life (although many Armenians live in the aptly named "Little Armenia" neighborhood of Los Angeles[5]).

The Armenian American community is the most politically influential community of the Armenian diaspora.[6] Organizations such as Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and Armenian Assembly of America advocate for the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the United States government and support stronger Armenia–United States relations. The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is known for its financial support and promotion of Armenian culture and Armenian language schools.

  1. ^ "Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census". census.gov. September 21, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census". census.gov. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Embassy of the United States, Yerevan (June 1, 2004). "WikiLeaks: U.S. Ambassadors 'Decipher' Armenian American Diaspora". Armenian Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2013. Of the estimated 8–10 million people living outside the Republic of Armenia who consider themselves "Armenians," the GOAM [Government of Armenia] and major Armenian cultural and advocacy organizations estimate that 1.5-2 million live in the United States. This number ranks second after the estimated 2 to 2.5 million Armenians that live most of the year in Russia or other CIS Countries.
  4. ^ "Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census". census.gov. September 21, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  5. ^ Bittman, Mark (July 4, 2013). "This Armenian Life". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Von Voss was invoked but never defined (see the help page).