Burmese Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (100,200 0.03% of the U.S. population (2010)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Arizona, California, New York, Indiana, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Wyoming | |
| Languages | |
| English, Burmese | |
| Religion | |
Burmese Americans (Burmese: မြန်မာနွယ်ဖွား အမေရိကန် [mjəmà nwɛ̀bwá ʔəmèjḭkàɴ]) are Americans of full or partial Burmese ancestry. The term encompasses people of all ethnic backgrounds with ancestry in present-day Myanmar (or Burma). They are a subgroup of Asian Americans. The majority of Burmese Americans are of Chinese descent, particularly Teochew, Hokkien, and Yunnanese.
The first Burmese to study in the United States was Maung Shaw Loo, who came in 1858 to study at the University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell University) in Pennsylvania. He graduated with a medical degree in 1867 and returned the following year.
The first major wave of immigration from Myanmar occurred in the 1960s, after Ne Win established military rule in 1962, to the late 1970s. Most who immigrated were primarily those with Chinese origins, who arrived in increasing numbers following the 1967 anti-Chinese riots. The Burmese Chinese were the first major group of Theravada Buddhists to immigrate to the United States and were largely educated professionals, business entrepreneurs and technically skilled workers. A minority were of Anglo-Burmese and Indian descent. Some of the Burmese immigrated to the United States after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the previously existing quota on Asian immigrants. A second wave occurred during the 1980s to the early 1990s after the national uprising in 1988. This wave consisted of many different ethnic groups, including Bamars, Karens, and those from other ethnic minorities, particularly in search of better opportunities. Among this wave are political refugees numbering a few thousand, who were involved in the 8888 Uprising and are concentrated in Fort Wayne, Indiana. From 1977 to 2000, 25,229 Burmese immigrated to the United States, although the figure is inaccurate because it does not include Burmese who immigrated via other channels or through other third countries. A third wave of immigration, from 2006 to date, has been primarily of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, in particular Karen refugees from the Thai-Burmese border. From October 2006 to August 2007, 12,800 Karen refugees resettled in the United States.
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Wikipedia