Punjabi Americans

Punjabi Americans are Americans who either have total or partial Punjabi ancestry, originating in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. There are over 300,000 Punjabi Americans, many of whom first migrated from British Punjab and settled in California's Central Valley.

A notable community within Punjabi Americans is that of Punjabi Mexican Americans, found in California with both Punjabi and Mexican ancestry.

Sikhs Sikhs have been a part of the American populace for more than 130 years. At the turn of the 19th century, the province of Punjab of British India was hit hard by British practices of mercantilism. Many Sikhs emigrated to the United States and began arriving to work on farms in California. They traveled via Hong Kong to Angel Island, California, the western counterpart to Ellis Island in New York.The Pioneers, America, "A historical perspective of Americans of Asian Indian origin 1790-1997" 31 October 2006

"Some Sikhs worked in lumber mills of Oregon or in railroad construction and for some Sikhs, it was on a railway line, which allowed other Sikhs who were working as migrant laborers to come into the town on festival days".

Due to discrimination from Anglo Americans, many early Punjabi immigrants in California married Mexican Americans, forming a sizable Punjabi Mexican American community. Punjabi farmers were also able to circumvent laws prohibiting their ownership of property by operating through American bankers.Bhatia, Sunil. American karma: race, culture, and identity in the Indian diaspora. p. 84 (2007) .

Ravidassias

There is a notable population of Ravidassias in the United States, with the majority of them living in California. It is estimated that there are about 20,000 members of the Ravidassia community in California’s Central Valley - a vast majority of them with roots in Punjab in northwestern India. The background of the Ravidassia community in California is from Sikhs, Hindus, and Indigenous peoples. Ravidassia community has six Guru Ravidass temples in California, which have an appearance of Sikh Gurdwaras with the sacred book Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji placed at the center point of the main prayer hall.

Role in America Most Sikhs started life in America as farm labourers, with many eventually becoming landowners and successful farmers. In 1956, Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. At present Amarjit Singh Buttar is perhaps the only turbaned Sikh who holds elected public office. He was elected in December 2001 to the Vernon, Connecticut Board of Education for a four-year term. He has also been recently selected as the chairman of the board. Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana is also of Punjabi descent, as well as Nikki Haley, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and the 116th governor of South Carolina.

Many Punjabi Americans have become successful in technology-related fields. Vinod Dham helped to develop the Pentium processor while Vinod Khosla and Sabeer Bhatia co-founded Sun Microsystems and Hotmail respectively. Aneesh Chopra served as the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the United States, appointed by President Barack Obama.

Geographical distribution

States Approximately half of all American Punjabis live in California. + Punjabi Americans by state and territory (1990 −2021)State and territory2017-21 (est.)2006-10 (Est.)20001990 California 142,450 103,998 67,820 25,725 New York 36,435 32,135 22,560 5,516 Washington 18,410 11,454 6,005 861 New Jersey 17,225 11,304 7,730 2,648 Texas 9,795 6,875 3,765 1,497 Virginia 7,828 8,177 4,560 1,283 Michigan 7,612 5,676 3,635 1,256 Maryland 7,147 3,224 2,975 1,699 Indiana 6,691 2,895 740 418 Illinois 6,195 4,276 4,315 2,180 Pennsylvania 5,057 3,944 2,030 769 Ohio 5,011 5,083 2,040 1,067 Massachusetts 4,917 2,588 995 Arizona 3,833 1,980 1,035 North Carolina 3,642 2,932 705 485 Wisconsin 2,852 1,936 1,165 318 Florida 2,544 2,126 1,655 Georgia 2,540 1,882 790 317 Nevada 2,190 743 715 Kansas 1,948 827 249 240 Missouri 1,670 579 500 142 Oregon 1,570 1,246 425 Connecticut 1,455 1,269 934 Utah 1,383 632 255 86 Colorado 1,121 367 360 Minnesota 1,153 331 459 Mississippi 858 622 275 114 South Carolina 676 261 199 214 Louisiana 612 551 474 257 Alabama 507 451 219 249 Iowa 481 60 125 Arkansas 478 91 80 56 Oklahoma 464 53 150 Tennessee 379 572 200 New Hampshire 359 287 85 125 Kentucky 317 340 160 Vermont 289 120 0 Delaware 214 371 169 New Mexico 207 228 130 District of Columbia 189 138 134 Nebraska 160 70 65 Idaho 92 324 0 33 Rhode Island 74 0 30 Hawaii 68 0 39 Alaska 33 0 25 North Dakota 23 0 35 21 Montana 12 13 0 Maine 5 0 0 25 South Dakota 0 0 0 West Virginia 0 196 219 72 Wyoming 0 0 0 Puerto Rico 0 16 0 United States 309,373 223,309 141,295 47,673

Metropolitan areas + 15 largest Punjabi American Primary statistical area populationsPrimary statistical area2017-2021 American Community Survey2012-2016 American Community Survey Pop. Pop. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA 62,574 49,626 New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA 49,005 49,728 Sacramento-Roseville, CA CSA 31,576 30,195 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA 20,217 18,858 Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA CSA 16,559 16,010 Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA 15,743 11,825 Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA 13,054 12,930 Bakersfield, CA MSA 6,610 6,822 Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA 6,416 5,125 Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA 5,711 5,606 Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN CSA 5,493 4,533 Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA 5,458 4,548 Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT CSA 5,144 3,256 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA 4,273 4,467 Houston-The Woodlands, TX CSA 4,135 2,854 United States 309,373 280,867

Communities

Nearly half of American Punjabis live in California. Most of California's Punjabi population live in NorCal, especially in the Central Valley and the Bay Area. The nation's largest Punjabi population is in California's Central Valley, where Punjabi is the third most spoken language after only English and Spanish. Punjabis can be found across the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, but the largest concentrations can be found in the valley's largest cities (Sacramento in the Sacramento Valley and Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley), and in smaller communities associated with the farming of almonds, peaches, walnuts, and plums. There are also significant concentrations of Punjabi Americans in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and in the Bay Area near Fremont, California.

In the Sacramento Valley, Yuba City and Live Oak have prominent Punjabi populations, with the first Punjabi arriving in Yuba City in 1906. In 2021, Yuba City was home to an Indian American population of 10,638 (15.3% of the city's population), while Live Oak was home to an Indian American population of 1,038 (11.4% of the city's population), with most of these being Punjabis. Sutter County, California as a whole is home to 12,753 Indian Americans (12.9% of the county population); with most of these being Punjabis, this makes Sutter County the most proportionally Punjabi county in America. Down south in the San Joaquin Valley, Livingston is home to 2,798 Indian Americans (19.9% of the city's population); with most of these being Punjabi, Livingston is the most proportionally Punjabi municipality in America.

The New York metropolitan area also has a significant Punjabi American presence, with 49,005 Punjabis living in the area. 18,187 Punjabis live in New York City ( of the city's population), including 16,139 in the borough of Queens ( of the borough's population). The Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens is often referred to as "Little Punjab" due to its large Punjabi population. In 2020, the stretch of 101st Avenue between 111th and 123rd streets in Richmond Hill was renamed Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ) and the stretch of 97th Avenue between Lefferts Boulevard and 117th Street was renamed Gurdwara Street. Outside of the city, the suburbs of Hicksville in Long Island and Carteret in Central Jersey have significant Punjabi populations. In 2021, Hicksville was home to 8,040 Indian Americans (18.7% of the community's population) while Carteret was home to 4,708 Indian Americans (18.8% of the borough's population), with many of these being Punjabis.

Outside of California and the New York metropolitan area, there are significant populations of Punjabi Americans in Kent, Washington (in the Seattle Metropolitan Area) and Greenwood, Indiana (in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area).

+ 20 largest Punjabi American Public Use Microdata Area populationsPUMA2017-2021 American Community Survey Pop. Sutter & Yuba Counties--Yuba City PUMA, California 11,182 San Joaquin County (South)--Tracy, Manteca & Lathrop Cities PUMA; California 9,432 NYC-Queens Community District 9--Richmond Hill & Woodhaven PUMA, New York 7,705 Alameda County (Southwest)--Union City, Newark & Fremont (West) Cities PUMA; California 4,717 Fresno County (North Central)--Fresno City (North) PUMA, California 4,686 Kern County (Central)--Bakersfield City (West) PUMA, California 4,683 NYC-Queens Community District 13--Queens Village, Cambria Heights & Rosedale PUMA; New York 4,592 Sacramento County (Northwest)--Sacramento City (Northwest/Natomas) PUMA, California 4,457 King County (Southwest Central)--Kent City PUMA, Washington 4,236 San Joaquin County (Central)--Stockton City (North) PUMA, California 3,927 NYC-Queens Community District 10--Howard Beach & Ozone Park PUMA, New York 3,877 Middlesex County (Northeast)--Carteret Borough PUMA, New Jersey 3,615 Alameda County (South Central)--Fremont City (East) PUMA, California 3,310 Sacramento County (Central)--Elk Grove City PUMA, California 3,300 Fresno County (Central)--Fresno City (Southwest) PUMA, California 3,260 Nassau County (East Central)--Oyster Bay Town (Central) PUMA, New York 3,202 Fresno County (Central)--Fresno City (Southeast) PUMA, California 2,875 Merced County (West & South)--Los Banos & Livingston Cities PUMA, California 2,771 Sacramento County (South)--Galt, Isleton Cities & Delta Region PUMA; California 2,769 Alameda County (East)--Livermore, Pleasanton & Dublin Cities PUMA; California 2,768 United States 309,373

Notable Punjabi Americans

Activists Kala Bagai, immigration activist Bhagat Singh Thind, soldier and spiritualist. Fought for Indian-American citizenship rights in the US Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of US Army captain Humuyun Khan and anti-Islamophobia activists

Military Humayun Khan, US Army officer who was killed in the Iraq War Uday Singh, soldier of Indian descent who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Musicians Raaginder, violinist, music producer and songwriter Heems, rap artist and former member of alternative hip-hop group Das Racist Raveena Aurora, singer-songwriter Amar Sandhu, singer-songwriter

Politics Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Kashmir Gill, former mayor of Yuba City, California Ravinder "Ravi" Bhalla, mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey and first turban-wearing Sikh mayor of a U.S. city Dalip Singh Saund, first Asian American and first member of a non-Abrahamic faith elected to the House of Representatives Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative for California's 17th District Lahori Ram - First Indo-American to be appointed as the Economic Development Commissioner of California. Zohran Mamdani - mayor of New York City, of Punjabi descent through his mother's ancestry

Judiciary Satnam Rattu - Indian origin judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County in California. Neetu Badhan Smith - First Sikh woman judge in the United States.

Sports Mike Mohamed, American football linebacker

See also

List of Indian Americans List of Pakistani Americans Bengali Americans

References