Who Are Arab Americans

The most recent wave of Arab immigrants has been due to social and political conflicts in the Middle East. Due to the deteriorating environment in places like Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, many Arabs have migrated to the U.S. for safety and security purposes. Upon migration, many immigrants took with them their culture, traditions, and customs, and live within Arab communities. It is common for immigrants to seek out communities to live in based on their native population, this is no different for Arab immigrants as you will see from the facts below. This website is important as it explains how and why many migrants may not be exposed to American culture, laws, services, and daily life; allowing immigrants to better preserve their ways of life and traditions from their home countries.

Quick Facts About Arab Americans
Based on information from the Arab American Institute Foundations it is known that origins of Arab Americans constitute  several waves of migration from southwestern Asia and North Africa and have been settling in the United States since the 1880s. More than 80% of immigrants are U.S. citizens. Descendants of earlier immigrants and more recent immigrants work in all sectors of society and are leaders in many professions and organizations. As a community, Arab Americans have a strong commitment to family.  Arab heritage reflects a culture that is thousands of years old and includes 22 Arab countries as diverse as Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia and Palestine.
 Screen shot 2015-04-18 at 11.09.01 AMPopulation
At least 3.5 million Americans are of Arab descent and two thirds of the Arab population reside in 10 states; one third  lives in California,  New York, and Michigan. About 94% live in metropolitan areas. Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Northeastern New Jersey are the top six metro areas of Arab American concentration. Lebanese Americans constitute a large part of the Arab Americans living in the states, except New Jersey, where Egyptian Americans are the largest Arab group. Americans of Syrian decent make up the majority of Arab Americans in Rhode Island, while the largest Palestinian population is in Illinois, and the Iraqi and Assyrian/Chaldean communities are concentrated in Illinois, Michigan, and California. 1

Selected Population Characteristics

  • Lebanese Americans constitute a greater part of the total number of Arab Americans residing in most states, although in Georgia, New Jersey, and Tennessee, Egyptian Americans are the largest Arab group.
  • The largest Arab American community in Arizona is Moroccan, Rhode Island has a plurality of Syrian Americans, and Nebraska and South Dakota have a large number of Sudanese.
  • While the largest Palestinian population is in California, the greatest concentration of Palestinians can be found in Illinois.
  • There are almost as many Iraqis living in Michigan as there are living in California, even though California is 3.5% larger than Michigan. 2

    National Arab Sub-Ancestry

     

     

    Top Three States by Arab American Population 3

    1. California – 272,485

    2. Michigan – 191,607

    3. New York – 149,627

  1. Arab American Institute Foundation http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/demographics/ ↩
  2. Arab American Institute Foundation http://b.3cdn.net/aai/fcc68db3efdd45f613_vim6ii3a7.pdf ↩
  3. Demographics, Arab American Institute http://b.3cdn.net/aai/44b17815d8b386bf16_v0m6iv4b5.pdf ↩