Gujarati Americans

Gujarati Americans
Total population
796,479[1][2] (2015)
Regions with significant populations
New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Washington, DC, Dallas, Philadelphia[2]
Languages
English, Hindi,[3] Gujarati,[3] Urdu, Kutchi
Religion
Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism[4][5]
Related ethnic groups
Indian Americans, Asian Americans

Gujarati Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to Gujarat. They are a subgroup of Indian Americans.

Gujaratis have achieved a high demographic profile in many urban districts worldwide, notably in India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, United States, as large-scale immigration from India continues into New York,[6][7][8][9] with the largest metropolitan Gujarati population outside of India.

The United States has the third-largest Gujarati population after the United Kingdom. The highest concentration of the population of over 100,000 is in the New York City Metropolitan Area alone, notably in the growing Gujarati diasporic center of India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Edison in Middlesex County in Central New Jersey. Significant immigration from India to the United States started after the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965,[10][11] Early immigrants after 1965 were highly educated professionals. Since US immigration laws allow sponsoring immigration of parents, children and particularly siblings on the basis of family reunion, the numbers rapidly swelled in a phenomenon known as "chain migration". Given the Gujarati propensity for business enterprise, a number of them opened shops and motels. Now in the 21st century over 40% of the hospitality industry in the United States is controlled by Gujaratis.[12][13][14] Gujaratis, especially the Patidar samaj, also dominate as franchisees of fast food restaurant chains such as Subway and Dunkin' Donuts.[15] The descendants of the Gujarati immigrant generation have also made high levels of advancement into professional fields, including as physicians, engineers and politicians. In August 2016, Air India commenced direct, one-seat flight service between Ahmedabad and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, via London Heathrow International Airport.[16]

Famous Gujarati Americans include Ami Bera (United States Congress),[17] Reshma Saujani (American politician),[18] Sonal Shah (economist to Whitehouse),[19] Rohit Vyas (Indian American journalist), Bharat Desai (CEO Syntel),[20] Vyomesh Joshi (Forbes),[21] Raj Bhavsar (sports)[22] Halim Dhanidina (first Muslim judge of California), Savan Kotecha (Grammy nominated American songwriter),[23] Mafat and Tulsi Patel (Patel Brothers founders),[24] and Hollywood actresses, Sheetal Sheth[25] and Noureen DeWulf.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "ASIAN ALONE OR IN ANY COMBINATION BY SELECTED GROUPS: 2015". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Gujaratis 6% of Indians, but 20% of US Indians". Times of India. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Migration Information Source — Indian Immigrants in the United States". Migrationinformation.org. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  4. ↑ "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". Pew Forum. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  5. ↑ "Pew Forum — Indian Americans' Religions". Projects.pewforum.org. 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  6. ↑ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
  7. ↑ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2012 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  8. ↑ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  9. ↑ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  10. ↑ Keely, Charles B. (May 1971). "Effects of the immigration act of 1965 on selected population characteristics of immigrants to the United States". Demography. 8 (2): 157–169. doi:10.2307/2060606.
  11. ↑ Khandelwal, MS (1995). The politics of space in South asian Diaspora , Chapter 7 Indian immigrants in Queens, New York City: patterns of spatial concentration and distribution, 1965–1990 - Nation and migration: - books.google.com. Philadelphia, USA: University of Pennsylvania. p. 179. ISBN 0-8122-3259-3. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  12. ↑ edited by Greve, Joel A.C.; Baum, Henrich R.; Authored by Kalnins, Arthur; Chung, Wilbur (2001). Multiunit organization and multimarket strategy (1. ed.). New York: JAI. pp. 33–48. ISBN 0-7623-0721-8.
  13. ↑ Staff, W. S. J. (11 June 2012). "Why Indian Americans Dominate the U.S. Motel Industry". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  14. ↑ HIRAL DHOLAKIA-DAVE (Oct 18, 2006). "42% of US hotel business is Gujarati". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 February 2015. Gujaratis, mainly Patels, now own 21,000 of the 53,000 hotels and motels in the US. It makes for a staggering 42% of the US hospitality market, with a combined worth of $40 billion.
  15. ↑ Rangaswami, Padma (2000). Namaste America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis. University park, PA, USA: Pennsylvania State University press. p. 285. ISBN 0271--01980-8.
  16. ↑ Ashish Chauhan (August 15, 2016). "Air India launches Ahmedabad to Newark flight". The Times of India. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ Drew Joseph (2010-08-14). "Bera Hopes to Wipe Out Lungren Despite GOP Wave". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  18. ↑ "Gujarati Woman Aims for House", The Times of India, January 1, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Gujarati NRI Sonal Shah appointed Obama's adviser". DeshGujarat. Retrieved 6 February 2015. NRI Gujarati Sonal Shah, an eminent economist who heads Google's philanthropic arm, has been appointed an advisory board member by US President-elect Barack Obama to assist his team in smooth transition of power.
  20. ↑ "2 Gujarati-origin among America's super-rich". dna india. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Raheel Dhattiwala. "The million dollar man from Gujarat". The Economic Times. Retrieved 6 February 2015. AT was lucky to meet the Ahmedabad-born, 50-year-old business honcho in person.
  22. ↑ "IG Online Interview: Raj Bhavsar (USA)". intlgymnast. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Born in Houston, Bhavsar is 100 percent Gujarati; his father hails from Vadadora (Baroda), a city in the small Indian state of Gujarat, near Mumbai. His mother was born in Kampala, Uganda, but was educated in Gujurat. Most of Bhavsar's relatives are Gujarati.
  23. ↑ "Savan Kotecha, Songwriter". ofindianorigin.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2015. I come from a pretty traditional Gujarati family and that made getting into the music business pretty tricky. My parents like most Indian parents, wanted me to go to Uni and be a Doctor or Lawyer. That meant I was on my own for the most part as far as figuring out how to 'make it'. It also gave me something to prove which made me work extra hard.
  24. ↑ "SPICING UP AMERICA THE PATEL BROTHERS' SUCCESS STORY". Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Movers and shakers". india today. Retrieved 6 February 2015. "We are close to our extended families in Ahmedabad and Mumbai and grew up with Gujarati culture as a predominant influence in our lives.... The Gujarati community has done it all in the US — from doctors to entrepreneurs, from retail to the hospitality industry.
  26. ↑ "Stereotypes are very hard to escape: Noureen DeWulf". Zee News India. Retrieved 6 February 2015. DeWulf, a Gujarati Muslim by origin, has carved out a successful career for herself in Hollywood and her repertoire includes Hollywood films like `West Bank Story` and `Ghosts of Girlfriends Past` besides TV shows `Maneater`, `90210` and `Girlfriends`.
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