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Iranian Americans

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Iranian American
Regions with significant populations
West, Northeast, South
Languages
American English, Persian, and other languages of Iran
Religion
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Bahá'í


Iranian Americans are American citizens of Iranian ethnicity or heritage. Many Iranians who are born in the United States identify with the status of Iranian-American.[1] Although Iranians have lived in the US in relatively small numbers since the 1930s, a large amount of Iranian-Americans are immigrants that have lived in the US since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. [2]

History

Iranian immigration to the United States has been continuous since the 1980s. Today, the United States contains the highest number of Iranians in the world outside Iran not including a large and influential Iranian Zohrastrian community in India. The Iranian-American community has produced a sizable number of individuals notable in many fields, including medicine, engineering, and business. The community expanded predominantly in the early 1980s in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the former regime. They have comparatively liberal political opinions and westernized lifestyles due in part to American acculturation. Iranian-Americans thus are secular or otherwise, tend to practice moderate, less traditional forms of Shi'ism (some were forced into asylum or exile for disagreements over religion with the Islamic Republic of Iran) as well as liberal Judaism.

Many Iranian Americans are also members of the Azeri, Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian or other ethnic groups, reflecting the diversity of Iran.

Demography

US Census

Large concentrations of Iranian Americans live in the state of California, most of them live in Southern California particularly around Los Angeles, Orange County, and La Jolla (San Diego). Other Iranian-American communities in California include the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Imperial Valley and the Coachella Valley. For this reason, the L.A area with its Iranian American residents is sometimes referred to as "Tehrangeles" or "Irangeles" among Iranian Americans, in allusion to Iran and its capital, Tehran, which is also a sister city of Los Angeles.[4] According to Ethnologue, there are at least 900,000- 2.5 million speakers of the Iranian dialects of the Persian language living in the US.[3]

Concentrations

There are also large concentrations in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, Phoenix, Washington DC, and around Dallas and Houston, Texas, and a sizable Iranian American community developed in Oklahoma since the 1970s and 1980's (mostly in the cities of Tulsa and Oklahoma City) [citation needed]. An NPR report recently put the Iranian population of Beverly Hills as high as 20% of the total population. Beverly Hills elected its first Iranian-born Mayor, Jamshid Delshad, in 2007.[5][6] Iranian communities in the US also have varying religious populations among each city.

Notable individuals

Iranian-Americans are among the most educated and successful communities in the U.S., according to a report by Iranian Studies group at MIT. Iranian-Americans have founded and/or participated in senior leadership positions of many major US companies, including many Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Intel, Verizon, Motorola, Google, and AT&T. The founder/CEO of Ebay (Pierre Omidyar) is a Persian, as well as the founder of Bratz (Isaac Larian). In September of 2006, Anousheh Ansari, co-founder of the Ansari X Prize became the first female tourist in space. Ansari is also the co-founder and former CEO of Prodea Systems Inc. and Telecom Technologies, Inc. In July 18th 2007 Farhad Rostampour became the first Iranian-born pilot to complete a record setting flight around the world. His flight was known as FreedomFlight. Goli Ameri was recently confirmed as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, making her the highest-ranking Iranian-American public official in the United States.

Many Iranian Americans are active philanthropists and leaders in improving their community. In 2006, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center was the recipient of a 10 million dollar donation from an Iranian American couple based in Houston, Texas.[7][8]

A street in Houston, Texas

The University of Southern California was also the recipient of a 17 million dollar gift from an Iranian-American[9], as was San Francisco State University which also received a 10 million dollar gift from an Iranian-American couple.[10], and Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital ($4 million)[11], Portland State University ($8 million)[12], and UC Irvine ($30 million)[13][14], among others.

Well-known Americans of Iranian descent include Christiane Amanpour, Bijan Pakzad, Firouz Naderi, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ali Javan, Sina Tamaddon, Omid Kordestani, Rudi Bakhtiar, and Catherine Bell[15][16]. A notable Iranian-American who works in sport is WWE wrestler Shawn Daivari. In film there are several Iranian American actors and film crew, including the Academy-Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo, producer Bob Yari, and Farhad Safinia, co-writer of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto,Daryush Shokof (cult) Artist-writer-Filmmaker (Seven Servants with Anthony Quinn )

See also

References

  1. ^ "US demographic census". Retrieved 2006-11-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Iranian.com | Archive Pages
  3. ^ a b Ethnologue report for the USA
  4. ^ "Iranians at odds over talks with 'the Great Satan'". The Sunday Telegraph. 04-06-2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ NPR: Living in Tehrangeles: L.A.'s Iranian Community
  6. ^ Beverly Hills will have first Iranian-born mayor in USA - USATODAY.com
  7. ^ Profile of an Iranian-American philanthropist: Ali Saberioon
  8. ^ Title_ - M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
  9. ^ Alum Gives $17M to USC Viterbi Dept
  10. ^ SF State News
  11. ^ Iranian.com | Archive Pages
  12. ^ Portland State Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science | Visionary Alumnus
  13. ^ University of California, Irvine | The Paul Merage School of Business
  14. ^ Iranian.com | Archive Pages
  15. ^ Catherine Bell - Biography
  16. ^ Catherine Bell Biography, Bio, Profile, pictures, photos from Netglimse.com



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