Hinduism in the United States
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
2,230,000 (2014) 0.7% of the U.S. population Pew Research Center |
|
| Languages | |
| Sanskrit · Prakrit · Pali (for religious texts and prayers) · American English · British English · Indian English · Indian French · Portuguese · French · Dutch · Hindi · Malayalam · Bengali · Tamil · Punjabi · Gujarati · Kashmiri · Sindhi · Dogri · Kannada · Oriya · Kutchi · Telugu · Tulu · Assamese · Konkani · Ladakhi · Nepali · Marathi · Pashto · Dzongkha · Burmese · Sinhalese · Indonesian · Javanese · Balinese · Caribbean Hindustani · Caribbean English · Sranan Tongo · Mauritian Creole · Mauritian Bhojpury · Fiji Hindi · other Indian languages · other languages | |
| Religion | |
|
Hinduism (Sanātanī · Shaivism · Vaishnavism · Smarta Tradition · Shaktism · Sri Vaishnavism · Agama Hindu Dharma · Arya Samaj · Brahmo Samaj · Hare Krishna movement · Neo-Vedanta · Swaminarayan Sampraday) |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sikhism in the United States, Buddhism in the United States |
Hinduism is a minority religion in the United States; American Hindus in 2014 accounted for an estimated 0.7% of total US population. In 2015, American Hindus accounted for an estimated 0.8% of the total US population, representing an increase of roughly one million people. The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants from South Asia (mainly India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh; also including Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Myanmar), Indonesia, the Caribbean (namely Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica), Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius and other countries and their descendants. Additionally, the United States has a number of converts to Hinduism.
While there were isolated sojourns by Hindus in the United States during the 19th century, Hindu presence in the United States was extremely limited until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Services (INS) Act of 1965.
Currently, Hindu-Americans hold the highest education levels among all religious communities in the United States, though this is mostly due to immigration policies that favor educated Hindus. Many concepts of Hinduism, such as karma, reincarnation and yoga, have entered into mainstream American vernacular. For example, 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, a core concept of Hinduism.
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