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Sri Lankan Americans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sri Lankan Americans
Total population
84,526 (2023)[1]
Regions with significant populations
New York City Metropolitan Area (including New York City, Central New Jersey, and Long Island)[2][3][4] Greater Boston, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Atlanta metropolitan area, Dallas metropolitan area, Houston area,[5] and other major American metropolitan areas
Languages
English, Sinhala and Tamil
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Roman Catholicism

Sri Lankan Americans (Sinhala: Sri Lankika Amerikanu, Tamil: Ilangkaī Amerikan) are Americans of full or partial Sri Lankan ancestry. Sri Lankan Americans are persons of Sri Lankan origin from various Sri Lankan ethnic backgrounds. The people are classified as South Asian in origin.

History

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Thesa, a Sinhalese representative at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

Sri Lankans started arriving in the U.S. in larger numbers around the mid 1950s, but there is evidence from U.S. census records which proves that Sri Lankans first emigrated from Ceylon and arrived in the United States in earlier years, mostly between the 1880s and the 1890s.

In 1975, Sri Lankan immigrants were classified as belonging to a category which was separate from "other Asian" for the first time. In that year, 432 Sri Lankans entered the United States.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's records, in 1996, 1,277 Sri Lankans were naturalized. This included 615 who had arrived in 1995 and 254 who had arrived in 1994, compared with only 68 arrivals in 1993 and 17 before 1985.

The number increased to 14,448 in the 1990s in conjunction with the Sri Lankan Civil War . An estimated 40% of Sri Lankan Americans are Sri Lankan Tamils.[6] Sri Lankan Americans settled largely in cities.[7]

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
19805,576—    
199014,022+151.5%
200025,263[8]+80.2%
201749,116[9]+94.4%

The New York City Metropolitan Area, including New York City, Long Island, and Central New Jersey, contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population,[2][3][4] followed by the Los Angeles metropolitan area. California has the highest number of Sri Lankans of any U.S. state at 14,008.[10] Meanwhile, Maryland has the highest share of Sri Lankans at 0.07%.[11]

Little Sri Lanka, in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, is one of the largest Sri Lankan communities outside of the country of Sri Lanka itself.[12][13][14] As of 2019, Sri Lankans were coalescing there.[15] Staten Island alone has been estimated as home to more than 5,000 Sri Lankan Americans.[16] Other communities with Sri Lankans include Queens, New York; Garden City Park, New York; Sewaren, New Jersey; Gaithersburg, Maryland; Kensington, Maryland; and Fishers, Indiana. In Los Angeles there is a large presence in the West San Fernando Valley, in particular in Reseda and Tarzana.[17] According to the Statistical Atlas there are over 1,000 individuals with Sri Lankan ancestry in the West San Fernando Valley.[18]

Around 40% of Sri Lankan Americans were born in the United States, while only a half are U.S. citizens.[19]

The Top 10 cities with the most residents reporting Sri Lankan ancestry or origin are as follows:[20]

City Sri Lankan

Population

 City's

Population

 Sri Lankan

Percentage

New York, New York 5,763 8,736,047 0.066%
Los Angeles, California 2,330 3,902,440 0.060%
Houston, Texas 841 2,293,288 0.037%
Fishers, Indiana 553 97154 0.569%
Oakland, California 531 437,548 0.121%
Chicago, Illinois 461 2,742,119 0.017%
Austin, Texas 453 944,658 0.048%
Gaithersburg, Maryland 451 68,827 0.655%
Dallas, Texas 446 1,300,239 0.034%
San Francisco, California 445 865,933 0.051%

Socioeconomics

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Sri Lankan Americans are generally educated and affluent. With a median income of $74,000, Sri Lankan Americans are the third most successful Asian American group (tied with Japanese Americans) in regards to income. Additionally, 57% of Sri Lankan Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or more.[21]

Organizations

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  • Association of Sri Lankans in America (AHRCL)
  • Friends of Sri Lanka in the United States
  • Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC)
  • Sri Lanka Association of New England (SLANE)[22]
  • Sri Lanka Foundation[23]
  • Sri Lankan American Association of Houston[24]
  • Sri Lankan American Cultural Association (SLACA)[25]
  • Sri Lankan Youth Organization (SLYO)[26]
  • The Association of Sri Lankan Muslims in North America (TASMiNA)[27]

Notable people

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See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ↑ "US Census Data". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2012 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sri Lankans in the U.S. Fact Sheet". Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  6. ↑ "United States of America" (PDF). January 2014.
  7. ↑ Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia.
  8. ↑ Population Division (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ "PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES: Foreign-born population excluding population born at sea - 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Retrieved December 24, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. ↑ "Top 10 States | Largest Sri Lankan Community | 2023 | Zip Atlas". zipatlas.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Top 10 States | Percentage of Sri Lankan Population | 2023 | Zip Atlas". zipatlas.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Why Staten Island?". Little Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ Harrison Peck. "NYC The Official Guide - Must-See Little Sri Lanka: 7 Great Things to See and Do". NYC & Company, Inc. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  14. ↑ Amy Zavatto (August 5, 2010). "Frommer's - New York City: Exploring Staten Island's Little Sri Lanka". John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Little Sri Lanka: An Island Nation Unites on Staten Island". Charter Communications. October 8, 2019. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  16. ↑ Kirk Semple (June 8, 2013). "Sri Lankans have gathered on Staten Island,..." The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  17. ↑ Brightwell, ~ Eric (May 5, 2016). "No Enclave — Exploring Sri Lankan Los Angeles". Eric Brightwell. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  18. ↑ "The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas". statisticalatlas.com. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  19. ↑ "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder.census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 2, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ↑ "Largest Sri Lankan Community in the United States by City | 2023 | Zip Atlas". zipatlas.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population". Pew Research Center. September 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ "SLANE". Slaneusa.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Home". Sri Lanka Foundation. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Sri Lankan American Association of Houston". SLAAH. Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Slaca.org". Slaca.org. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Non-profit - United - S.L.Y.O - Sri Lankan Youth Organization". Non-profit - United - S.L.Y.O - Sri Lankan Youth Organization. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Home". tasmina.org. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
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