Iranian Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 470,341 (2011 ACS) 500,000–1,000,000+ (estimates) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| California, New York, New Jersey,Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Illinois | |
| Languages | |
| Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, and other languages of Iran. (see Languages of Iran). | |
| Religion | |
| Muslim: 31%, Atheist/Realist/Humanist: 11%, Agnostic: 8%, Baha’i: 7%, Jewish: 5%, Protestant: 5%, Roman Catholic: 2%, Zoroastrian: 2%, "Other": 15%, and "No response": 15%. |
Iranian Americans or Persian Americans, are Americans of Iranian ancestry or people possessing Iranian and American dual citizenship. Iranian Americans are among the highest educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in business, academia, the sciences, arts, and entertainment – but have traditionally shied away from participating in American politics and other civic activities.
Iranian-American is used interchangeably with Persian-American, partially due to the fact that Iran was officially called Persia prior to 1935; as well as the fact that "Iran" and "Persia" have been used interchangeably since classic times. There is a tendency among Iranian-Americans to categorize themselves as "Persian" rather than "Iranian", mainly to disassociate themselves from the Iranian government and the negativity associated with it, and also to distinguish themselves as being of Persian ethnicity, which is around 65% of Iran's population. Majority of Iranian-Americans are of Persian-speaking backgrounds, however there is also a significant number of non-Persian Iranians within the Iranian-American community, leading some scholars to believe that the label "Iranian" is more inclusive, since the label "Persian" excludes non-Persian minorities from Iran. The Collins English Dictionary uses a variety of similar and overlapping definitions for the terms "Persian" and "Iranian".
One of the very first recorded Iranians to visit North America was Martin the Armenian, an Iranian-Armenian tobacco grower who settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1618.Mirza Mohammad Ali, who is also known as Hajj Sayyah is another Iranian who came to North America in the 1800s. He was inspired to travel around the world due to the contradiction between the democratic ideals he read about around the world and how his fellow Iranians were treated by their leaders. He began his travel as a 23-year-old looking for knowledge and to gain perspective on the lives of others to bring back with him to help Iran's progress. His stay in the United States lasted 10 years, and took him across the country from New York to San Francisco. He also met with powerful people like Ulysses S. Grant. Hajj Sayyah was the first Iranian to become an American Citizen on May 26, 1875. He was imprisoned upon his return to Iran for making a stand against the living conditions there. He looked to the United States to protect him but to no avail. During the peak period of worldwide emigration to the United States (1842–1903), only 130 Iranian nationals were known to have immigrated.
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