Gambian Americans

Gambian Americans
Total population
  • 3,035 (2000 US census)[1]
  • 11,000 (Gambian-born, 2008-2012; American Community Survey Briefs)[2]
Regions with significant populations
New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, Kentucky[3]
Languages
American English, French, Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Serer
Religion
Islam, Christianity[4]
Related ethnic groups
African Americans, American groups of West Africa (Senegalese, Bissau-Guinean etc.), English
Lists of Americans
By US state
By ethnicity

Gambian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Gambian descent. There are about 8000 Gambians[5] living in the United States, involving themselves in activities ranging from business and entrepreneurship to college education. Additionally, during the Atlantic slave trade, many Africans from what is now The Gambia were traded and were subsequently sold by Europeans and Americans into forced labor in the United States. Gambian immigrants arriving in the United States include members of ethnic groups such as the Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Jola, and Serahule.

Many Gambians have emigrated to the United States since the 1970s with the goal of entering into higher education. While some of these students returned home after completing their studies, others adopted the United States as a permanent residence, attracting friends and family to the country. Locations with significant Gambian communities include Chicago, [4] Atlanta, the Seattle metropolitan area, Minnesota, the Bronx, New York, Texas, and Washington, D.C.[6] Most Gambians living in the United States practice Islam or Christianity.[4]

  1. ^ "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  2. ^ "The Foreign-Born Population From Africa: 2008–2012" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  3. ^ "The Gambia: Migration in Africa's "Smiling Coast"". 15 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference encychigam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Policy & History". U.S. Embassy in The Gambia. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  6. ^ "The Gambian American Association (GAA)". Archived from the original on 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-06-09.