Vietnamese Norwegian

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Vietnamese Norwegians
Total population
ca. 18 300 (2006)^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, Moss
Languages
Vietnamese, Norwegian
Religions
Buddhism, Christianity (chiefly Roman Catholicism)
Related ethnic groups
Vietnamese people, Overseas Vietnamese,

Vietnamese Norwegians are Norwegians of Vietnamese descent who trace their ancestry to Vietnam and are residents and/or citizens of Norway. Norway has received Vietnamese refugees since 1975, and as of 2006, had about 18 300 Norwegians of Vietnamese descent.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Cultural Profile
4 References
5 See also

[edit] History

The first Vietnamese immigrant waves to Norway came after the Fall of Saigon, in 1975. They escaped Vietnam by boat, and were also known as the boat people. Some were picked up by Norwegian ships and came to Norway after spending some months in refugee camps in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Most of these boat people came in the period from 1978 to 1985. Later immigrants have come from family-reunification and for economic reasons.

[edit] Demographics

As of 1 January 2006, the Norwegian Statistisk Sentralbyrå reported that there were 18 333 Vietnamese Norwegians in Norway. Vietnamese Norwegians was at the time the third largest non-western immigrant group after Pakistani and Iraqi immigrants.

[edit] Cultural Profile

[edit] Education

Vietnamese culture places heavy emphasis on education, and this gives them an edge when compared to many other non-western immigrants. A 2006 survey showed that Vietnamese was the ethnic group that was forth most likely to finish a bachelor degree, and the ethnic group third most likely to finish a masters degree^[2] . A survey from 2006 reported that 88 percent of Vietnamese finished college, the same percent as ethnic Norwegians^[3]. A 2006 survey also showed that Vietnamese had the highest grades in college among the ten largest non-western immigrant groups in Norway, averaging similar grades as ethnic Norwegians^[4] ^[5].

[edit] Politics

Vietnamese in Norway are not active in the country's politics. As of December 2006, there was only one Vietnamese in a county council in Norway^[6].

[edit] Attachments to home country

As a result of most Vietnamese coming to Norway as political or war refugees fleeing the Communist Vietnam, they are in general critical of the Vietnamese government. Fleeing the country was viewed as treasonable by the Vietnamese government during the 1970's and 1980's. However, the trend has turned and Vietnam now view the overseas Vietnamese as assets to the country's rapidly growing economy.

The Vietnamese are one the immigrant groups in Norway that most often send money to families in their home country. Over 60 percent of those who came to the country as adults reported as regularly sending money home to their families. The number regularly sending money to Vietnam among Vietnamese born in Norway or arrived in the country as children, were over 40 percent. The Vietnamese coming to Norway as adults send more and more money, the longer they have stayed in their new country^[7].

[edit] Challenges

Though widely perceived as one of the best integrated non-western immigrant groups, there still remain some challenges for the Vietnamese community in Norway. A 2002 survey reported that 3.2% of Vietnamese Norwegians had been punished for breaking the law. The number for ethnic Norwegians were 1.35%^[8]. A social anthropologist studying the Vietnamese community said there was an "either... or" phenomenon among the Vietnamese, with those not succeeding in school falling into delinquency^[8]. The same trend has also been observed among the Vietnamese Americans. A stronger connection between the parents and the kids that fall out has been wanted. The relative low proficiency among Vietnamese in Norwegian, and a small vocabulary, has also been analyzed as important challenges remaining.