Total population |
---|
976,314[1] 0.35% of US population (2009) |
Regions with significant populations |
New York City Metropolitan Area,[2] Pennsylvania, Midwest (Minnesota & North Dakota), California, Alaska |
Languages |
Religion |
Predominantly Ukrainian Greek Catholic with Ukrainian Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish minorities |
Related ethnic groups |
Ukrainians, Ukrainian Canadians, British Ukrainians, Ukrainian Australians, Rusyn Americans, other Slavic peoples especially East Slavs |
Ukrainian Americans (Ukrainian: Українці Америки, Українці у США; translit. Ukrayintsiy Ameriki, Ukrayintsiy u SShA) are citizens and permanent residents of the United States who have recently emigrated to the United States and are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2006 there were 961,113 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.33% of the American population.[1] The Ukrainian population of the United States is thus the second largest outside the former Soviet Union; only Canada has a larger Ukrainian community. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the metropolitan areas with the largest numbers of Ukrainian Americans are: New York City with 160,000 Ukrainians, Philadelphia with 60,000 Ukrainians, Chicago with 46,000 Ukrainians, Los Angeles with 34,000, and Detroit with 33,000 Ukrainians.[3]
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The first Ukrainian immigrant to America, Ivan Bohdan sailed with John Smith to the Jamestown colony in 1608. Bohdan met captain Smith during the time when the latter had fought the Turks, was captured, and escaped captivity by fleeing through Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and other countries.[4] Large scale Ukrainian immigration to America did not begin, however, until the 1880s.[5]
The largest wave of Ukrainians came in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. A large number those emigrating from Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union were Jewish. Many Ukrainians of the newest immigration wave migrated to large cities, creating ethnic neighborhoods. In addition, many Ukrainian Americans have come by way of Canada, which has a much larger Ukrainian presence (much as with French Americans).
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 892,922 Americans of full or partial Ukrainian descent. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains by far the largest Ukrainian community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Ukrainian immigrant population.[6]
The American states with the largest Ukrainian populations are as follows:
New York | 148,700 |
Pennsylvania | 122,291 |
California | 83,125 |
New Jersey | 73,809 |
Illinois | 47,623 |
The total number of people born in Ukraine is more than 275,155 inhabitants.[7]
The top 20 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Ukrainian ancestry are:[8]
Top 20 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of residents born in Ukraine are:[9]
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