Raquel Welch · Kori Udovicki · Jaime Escalante |
Total population |
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Bolivian 82,322 Americans up to roughly 0.04% of the US population |
Regions with significant populations |
Virginia · Maryland · Washington D.C. · are the largest Bolivian American communities |
Languages |
Religion |
Predominantly Roman Catholic, minority Protestant |
Bolivian American is a compound term that applies to American citizens of Bolivian origin. Racially, Bolivian Americans are identified as Indigenous, European (mostly Spanish, German, or Croatian), Afro Bolivian, or a combination of any or all three races in varying degrees of admixture. Furthermore, there are Bolivian Americans of Japanese descent, albeit, in small numbers.
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Bolivian immigration into the United States occurred in two significant phases. The first phase occurred during and subsequent to the 1952 National Revolution (between 1952 and the latter 1960s). Most of these immigrants consisted of middle- to upper-middle income occupational professionals or political dissidents, and identify with Bolivia's White or Criollo (mixed White) society.
The second notable phase of Bolivian immigration (between 1980 and 1988) was a result of Bolivia's fiscal policies in the 1970s which gave way to the hyperinflation throughout most of the 1980s. Most of these immigrants consisted of lower-income Mestizo and Indigenous Bolivians obtaining work posts as service and manual laborers.
Many Bolivians who emigrated to the United States came as tourists. However, it remained indefinitely in the country, setting them to family and friends. This made it difficult to know the number of Bolivians living in the United States. Between 1984 and 1993, only 4,574 Bolivians get the U.S. citizenship. In this period about 457 were naturalized each year. [1]
Bolivians have settled throughout the United States, mainly in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia; there are also large groups of Bolivian immigrants in Texas, New York City, New Jersey, South Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Chicago and California. The number of Bolivians in the U.S. in 2006 was estimated at 82,322. The most of Bolivians inmigrants study in the high school or have a college graduates and often they work in companies or in government.[1]
The top 101 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Bolivian ancestry (and/or born in Bolivia) are:[2]
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2006 American Community Survey: Race and Hispanic or Latino