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{{disputed|date=August 2011}}
{{POV|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Azerbaijani Americans {{flagicon|United States}}
|group = Azerbaijani Americans {{flagicon|United States}}

Revision as of 06:03, 21 September 2011

Azerbaijani Americans United States
Lofti ZadehRustam Ibragimbekov
Lotfi Zadeh • Rustam Ibragimbekov
Ali Javan • Sona Babai
Regions with significant populations
State of New York, New Jersey, California, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Washington DC, Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Dakota, Tennessee, Georgia, Minnesota and other[1]
Languages
American English, Azerbaijani, Russian, Persian, Turkish
Religion
Predominately Muslim

Azerbaijani Americans (Azerbaijani: Amerikalı azərbaycanlılar), or Azeri-Americans, are U.S. citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background, or those who were born in Azerbaijan. Most Azerbaijani-Americans have immigrated to the United States from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran,[4][5][6] Russia or Turkey.

History

The earliest identified Azerbaijani immigrant to the United States was Merza Ali Akbar, resident of Baku who arrived at Ellis Island on the RMS Mauretania in June 1912.[7]

The first major wave of Azerbaijanis came to the U.S. in 1940s and 1950s, as many Azerbaijani émigrés and POWs left parts of Europe during and after World War II. Among those were also a number of expatriates, who fled to Turkey, Iran or parts of Europe upon the Soviet occupation of Azerbaijan in 1920, and in 1950s and 1960s, moved to the United States in pursuit of economic opportunities. This wave of Azerbaijani immigrants settled mainly in New York City and vicinities, which hosts the largest population of Azerbaijani-Americans, in Northern New Jersey and Massachusetts; and later in Florida, Texas and California, especially in Los Angeles area. In 1957, a group of these Azerbaijani settlers in New Jersey founded the Azerbaijan Society of America, a first Azerbaijani-American community organization.[8][9] By 1980 there were around 200 families that identified themselves as Azerbaijani in the United States, with about 80% of them being endogamic.[8] In 1976, Houston and Baku established the first sister-city association between the cities in the U.S. and Azerbaijan. It was followed with a sister city between Honolulu, Hawaii and Baku in 1988[10], Newark, New Jersey and Ganja (second largest city in Azerbaijan) in the early 2000's, and Monterey, California and Lankaran in 2011.[11]

Demographics

According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were an estimated 14,205 Americans born in the Republic of Azerbaijan,[2] out of which 5,530 were naturalized U.S. Citizens[2] and 5,553 identified themselves as Azerbaijani in a primary or a secondary ancestry.[12] Census 2000 did not count Azerbaijani-Americans born in countries other than the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in 2001-2010, a total of 9,391 people from the Republic of Azerbaijan were naturalized as U.S. citizens. The table below presents the distribution for each year between 2001 and 2010:

Year U.S. Citizens
2001 946
2002 1,187
2003 886 [13]
2004 793 [14]
2005 904 [15]
2006 997 [16]
2007 606 [17]
2008 834 [18]
2009 1,005 [19]
2010 1,233 [20]

These statistics do not include the legal permanent residents (green card holders) who numbered 781 in 2010,[21] refugees, legal non-immigrant aliens (temporary visitors) who numbered 4,938 in 2009, as well as a very large number of ethnic Azerbaijanis born in other countries, such as Iran, Russia, and Turkey. Thus, based only on Census 2000 and DHS data, the official estimate of the U.S. citizens born in the Republic of Azerbaijan is approximately 14,944, and the number of U.S. residents born in Azerbaijan is approximately 24,377, minus the natural decline.

The 2010 U.S. Census results, to be released by the end of 2011, are expected to reflect a more current official estimate on the number of Azerbaijanis in the U.S. But ethnic communities in the U.S. are still grossly underestimated by censuses mostly due to poor participation, assimilation or misclassification.[22][23][24] Azerbaijani-Americans are not an exception in this regard, as both unofficial and semi-official estimates show that there are more Azerbaijanis living in the United States than claimed in the 2000 Census. According to various U.S. government and independent, private and public academic and non-profit organizations, including the Voice of America,[25] the Brooklyn Borough of New York,[26] the Lieutenant Governor of Missouri,[27] the Arlington County of Virginia,[28], the Open Society Institute[29], University of California Los Angeles,[30] the U.S. Census Bureau partners, Azerbaijani-American Council[30][31][32] and the U.S. Azeris Network,[33] articles in the U.S. press[34][35] and scholars,[36] the number of Azerbaijani Americans living in the United States was at least 400,000 in 2004, with estimates ranging from 300,000[37] to up to 500,000.[25]

According to the US Census 2000 data, the Azerbaijanis who immigrated from Azerbaijan have settled primarily in New York (12,540), New Jersey (4,357), Texas (3,178), California (2,743), and Minnesota (1,559).

Activity

By the late 1990s, the Azerbaijani-Americans became more active in the American sociopolitical life, including the U.S. Congress,[38] mainly advocating Azerbaijani interests in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[39] In 2004, a group of Congressmen founded the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ List of proclamations received from mayors and governors around U.S. by Azerbaijani-Americans
  2. ^ a b c "Table FBP-1. Profile of Selected Demographic and Social Characteristics" (PDF). Census 2000 Special Tabulations (STP-159). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  3. ^ Margaret Kaeter. The Caucasian Republics. Infobase Publishing, 2004; ISBN 0816052689; p. 74
  4. ^ Touraj Atabaki, Sanjyot Mehendale. Central Asia and the Caucasus: transnationalism and diaspora, Psychology Press, 2005, p. 102
  5. ^ Shirin Hakimzadeh, Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home, Migration Policy Institute, September 2006 (Retrieved 2011-06-23.)
  6. ^ James S. Kessler, Iranians, The Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2004 (Retrieved 2011-06-23.)
  7. ^ Ellis Island Immigration Station (Jun 7, 1912). "Passenger Record: Merza Ali Akbar". The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  8. ^ a b Thernstrom, Stephan (1980). Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Harvard University Press. p. 171. ISBN 0674375122. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Pope, Hugh (2005). Sons of the conquerors: The rise of the Turkic world. Overlook Duckworth. p. 371. ISBN 9781585676415. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Honolulu, Hawaii and Baku - Sister Cities
  11. ^ City of Monterey, California and Lankaran, Azerbaijan establish Sister City relations
  12. ^ "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question". Census 2000 PHC-T-43. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  13. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2003
  14. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2004
  15. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2005
  16. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2006
  17. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2007
  18. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2008
  19. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2009
  20. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Naturalized U.S. citizens from Azerbaijan in 2010
  21. ^ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Legal Permanent Residents from Azerbaijan in 2010
  22. ^ "Reasons Behind Inaccuracies in the Census". Census 2010 Education Kit. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  23. ^ Felde, Kitty (Dec 31, 2010). "State officials say census undercounts California by 1.5 million". KPCC - Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  24. ^ Ramirez, Jeanine (Jun 12, 2011). "Making Census Of It: Brooklyn Officials Claim 2010 Census Undercounted Borough". Time Warner Cable. NY1 News. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  25. ^ a b O'Sullivan, Mike (October 24, 2006). "US Azerbaijanis work to keep traditions alive" (PDF). Los Angeles. Voice of America.
  26. ^ Markowitz, Marty (May 28, 2011). "On the 93rd anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic". Proclamation by President of the Borough of Brooklyn.
  27. ^ Kinder, Peter D. (May 28, 2008). "Azerbaijani National Day - May 28" (PDF). Declaration by the Lt Governor of Missouri.
  28. ^ Proclamation from the County Board of Arlington, Virginia, October 18, 2008
  29. ^ Powley Hayden, Jessica (May 7, 2009). "Azerbaijan: Diaspora Organization Tries to Counter Armenian-American Influence in Washington". Eurasianet.
  30. ^ a b Mishory, Jennifer (October 22, 2006). "Azerbaijan deserves U.S. public attention". UCLA Daily Bruin. University of California Los Angeles. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  31. ^ "Azerbaijani-American Council partners with U.S. Census Bureau". News.Az. 28 Dec 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |pmd= (help)
  32. ^ "Current Census Partners (A)". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  33. ^ "Current Census Partners (U)". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  34. ^ Qasimov, Heydar (May 28, 2010). "Muslims celebrate national holiday". Fuquay-Varina Independent. North Carolina.
  35. ^ Hajiyev, Emin (March 9, 2011). "Obama, recognize us". St. Louis American. Missouri.
  36. ^ Kaeter, Margaret (2004). The Caucasian Republics. Infobase Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 9780816052684. Many Azerbaijanis also spread around the world. There are nearly 1 million in Russia and another 400,000 in the United States {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  37. ^ Goble, Paul (Feb 15, 2008). "Azerbaijanis outside of Azerbaijan: emigres, diasporas and national minorities" (PDF). ADA Biweekly Newsletter. 1 (2). Azerbaijani Diplomatic Academy: 7.
  38. ^ Cheney, Richard B. (1999). "Defending Liberty in a Global Economy". In Singleton, Solveig; Griswold, Daniel T. (eds.). Economic casualties: how U.S. foreign policy undermines trade, growth, and liberty. Washington, D.C.: CATO Institute. p. 24. ISBN 9781882577743. {{cite book}}: |first2= missing |last2= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |coauthors=, |separator=, |laysummary=, |trans_title=, |month=, |trans_chapter=, and |lastauthoramp= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ Perlmutter, Philip (1996). The dynamics of American ethnic, religious, and racial group life: an interdisciplinary overview. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 9780275955335. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  40. ^ "Honoring the Republic of Azerbaijan on its 93rd anniversary of "Republic Day": Statement by Hon. Dan Boren of Oklahoma". Congressional Record, Extension of Remarks. U.S. Government Printing Office. May 26, 2011. p. E973. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
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