Romanian-American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Romanian-American is a citizen of the United States who has significant Romanian heritage. For the 2000 US Census, 367,310 Americans indicated Romanian as their first ancestry[1] Other sources provide higher estimates for the numbers of Romanian-Americans in the contemporary US; for example, the Romanian-American Network, Inc. supplies a rough estimate of 1.2 million.[2] However, this estimate explicitly includes allowances for other ethnicities, nationalities and second- and third-generation descendants, some of whom have not or do not primarily identify with a Romanian heritage.[3] These people may be Romanian-born US citizens or American-born descendants or the Romanian emigrants who relocated to North America from the 19th century onwards. Many of them do not speak Romanian, having emigrated to the United States more than 50 years ago.
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[edit] Distribution of Romanian-American population
Romanian-Americans are distributed throughout the U.S., with concentrations found in the east and the northeast of the country, such as in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and New York, while in the Southeast communities are found in Georgia (Atlanta), Florida (Tallahassee) and Alabama (Montgomery). There are also significant communities of Romanian-Americans in the extreme west of the United States, particularly in California (Los Angeles and Sacramento) and Arizona (Tucson).
Half of all foreign-born Romanian-Americans came to the US after 1980[citation needed]. Some sources supply estimates of particular Romanian-American community populations which are considerably higher than the most recently-available U.S. census count. The estimated numbers depend on the reliability of the estimation method used and how membership of the Romanian-American community is defined.
In the 2000 United States census, 340,000 Americans of age 5 years and older (or 0.11% of the total US population) were identified as speakers of Romanian, ranking it 21st among languages spoken in the US.
[edit] Romanian-Americans by state totals
The states with the nine largest estimated Romanian-American populations are:
- California (248,125)
- New York (240,784)
- Florida (127,123)
- Michigan (119,624)
- Illinois (114,529)
- Ohio (106,017)
- Pennsylvania (84,958)
- Georgia (55,228)
- Texas (47,689)
[edit] Romanian-American culture
Romanian culture has mixed with American culture, creating a mixture between the two countries, characterized by Romanian-born Americans adopting American culture or American-born people having strong Romanian heritage.
The Romanian culture can be seen in many different kinds, like Romanian music, newspapers, churches, cultural organizations and groups, such as the Romanian-American Congress or the Round Table Society NFP. Religion, predominantly within the Romanian Orthodox Church, is an important trace of the Romanian presence in the United States, with churches in almost all bigger cities throughout the country. American children of Romanian origin often learn to speak both the Romanian and English languages fluently.
[edit] See also
- List of Romanian-Americans
- Romanian-Canadian
- Romanian-Australian
- Romanian Broadway festival
- Romanian-American Congress
- List of U.S cities with large Romanian American population
- Romanian-American University
[edit] References
- ^ .2000 U.S. Census, ancestry responses
- ^ Ro-Am Network, 2002 study on Romanian communities
- ^ Ibid.
[edit] External links
- Brief history of Romanians in America
- State by state Romanian population statistics
- [1] Vraciu's Biography
- [2] US Census Data on Ancestry
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