Nigerian American
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
277,631 (2012 American Community Survey) 116,807 (Nigerian-born, 2007-2011) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainly in Maryland; New York City; Texas; Georgia; New Jersey; Los Angeles, California; the Chicago metropolitan area; and Detroit, Michigan | |
| Languages | |
|
American English, Nigerian English, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio-Anaang-Efik, Esan, Urhobo, Isoko, Idoma, Ijaw, Fulani, Kalabari, Igala, Ikwerre, Tiv, Ebira, Nembe, Etsako, Itsekiri, Nupe, Nigerian Pidgin Others Nigerian languages and various languages of Nigeria |
|
| Religion | |
|
Christianity (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism) Sunni Islam, Animism, West African Vodun, agnosticism, atheism minorities |
Nigerian Americans are Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. According to a 2006 American Community Survey, there were about 266,000 US residents claiming Nigerian heritage. Nigerian Americans make up a significant part of African immigration to the United States.
Similar to their proportion of population on the continent of Africa, Nigerians are the single largest contemporary African immigrant group in the United States. Nigeria's official current population is 168.8 million. The largest communities of ethnic Nigerians living outside the country are those of the United Kingdom (see Nigerian British) and the United States. There are also significant numbers of Nigerians in Canada and Australia.
The first people of Nigerian ancestry in what is now the modern United States were imported as slaves or indentured laborers from the 17th century onwards.Calabar, Nigeria, became a major point of export of slaves from Africa to the Americas during the 17 and 18th centuries. Most slave ships frequenting this port were English. Most of the slaves of Bight of Biafra – many of whom hailed from the Igbo hinterland – were imported to Virginia (which accounted for 60% of the Biafra´s slaves imported to United States, as well most of all slaves of Virginia) and South Carolina (arriving there the 34% of the Biafra´s slaves), surpassing in together the 30.000 slaves hailing from the Bight. These colonies were followed fundamentally by Maryland (where arrived the 4% of the Biafra´s slaves imported to United States, arriving more of 1,000 people of the Bight).
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