Vietnamese Americans

Vietnamese Americans
Người Mỹ gốc Việt

Total population
2,162,610[1] 0.7% of the total U.S. population (2018)
Regions with significant populations
Los Angeles and Orange County San Francisco Bay Area Greater Houston Dallas-Fort Worth Washington metropolitan area Seattle area San Diego County Metro Atlanta Greater Boston Philadelphia area Alaska Hawaii Las Vegas Valley others[2]
Languages
Vietnamese, American English Chinese, French (older generations)
Religion
Buddhist (43%)  • Catholic (30%) Unaffiliated (20%)  • Protestant (6%)[3][4]
Related ethnic groups
Vietnamese people, Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese Canadians, Vietnamese Australians, Asian Americans, Chinese Americans, Hmong Americans

Vietnamese Americans (Vietnamese: Người Mỹ gốc Việt) are Americans who have ancestors who were originally Vietnamese.^[5] They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese (Vietnamese: Người Việt hải ngoại) and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Indian Americans. There are 2.2 million people of Vietnamese descent residing in the U.S.

The Vietnamese community in the United States was very small until the South Vietnamese immigration to the country after the Vietnam War which ended in 1975. Early immigrants were refugee boat people, loyal to South Vietnam in the conflict who left political persecution or wanted better jobs. More than half of Vietnamese Americans reside in the two most populous states of California and Texas, mostly in their large urban areas.^[6]

1. ↑ "ACS Selected Population Profile in the United States (2018 ACS 1-Year Estimates)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
2. ↑ "Vietnamese American Populations by Metro Area 2010 Census" (PDF). Hmongstudies.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
3. ↑ POLL July 19, 2012 (2012-07-19). "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". Pew Forum. Archived from the original on 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2013-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. ↑ "Pew Forum - Vietnamese Americans' Religions". Projects.pewforum.org. 2012-07-18. Archived from the original on 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
5. ↑ James M. Freeman. Vietnamese Americans. Microsoft Encarta Online. Encyclopedia 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
6. ↑ "Southeast Asian Americans State Populations 2010 U.S. Census". Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-02.