Gujarati Americans

{{short description|Americans of Gujarati birth or descent}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Gujarati Americans

| image = Gujarathi USC2000 PHS.svg

| image_caption = The language spread of Gujarati in the United States according to U. S. Census 2000

| total = 1,330,000(2015){{Cite web|author=Parth Shastri|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/gujaratis-6-of-indians-but-20-of-us-indians/articleshow/45746350.cms|title= Gujaratis 6% of Indians, but 20% of US Indians|date=January 4, 2015|website=TNN}}
350,000 (2015) - 434,264 (2017){{Cite web|url=http://www.theatlas.com/charts/rJ6XgWLFm|title=Most widely-spoken Indian languages in the US, 2017|date=September 24, 2018|website=Atlas}}{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/india/1399825/telugu-is-uss-fastest-growing-foreign-language/|title=America's fastest growing foreign language is from south India|first=Ananya|last=Bhattacharya|website=Quartz India}} people speak the language in the USA

| poptime =

| popplace = New Jersey, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/Gujaratis-6-of-Indians-but-20-of-US-Indians/articleshow/45746350.cms|title=Gujaratis 6% of Indians, but 20% of US Indians |newspaper=Times of India|access-date=27 May 2018}}

| langs = English, Gujarati, Hindi,{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=687#10 |title=Migration Information Source — Indian Immigrants in the United States |publisher=Migrationinformation.org |access-date=2010-07-17}}

| rels = Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Jainism{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx |title=Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths |publisher=Pew Forum |date=2012-07-19 |access-date=2014-08-11 |archive-date=2013-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716064702/http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://projects.pewforum.org/2012/07/18/religious-affiliation-of-asian-americans-2/asianamericans_affiliation-6-2/ |title=Pew Forum — Indian Americans' Religions |publisher=Projects.pewforum.org |date=2012-07-18 |access-date=2014-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904160148/http://projects.pewforum.org/2012/07/18/religious-affiliation-of-asian-americans-2/asianamericans_affiliation-6-2/ |archive-date=2014-09-04 |url-status=dead }}

| related_groups = Indian Americans, Asian Americans

| related =

}}

Gujarati Americans are Americans who are ethnic Gujaratis. They are a subgroup of Indian Americans.

File:India Square JC jeh.JPG in many urban districts worldwide, notably in India Square, or Little Gujarat, in Bombay, Jersey City, New Jersey, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, United States, as large-scale immigration from India continues into New York,{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2013-lawful-permanent-residents|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2014-06-18}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2012-legal-permanent-residents|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2012 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2013-07-05}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR11.shtm|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2013-07-05}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR10.shtm|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2013-07-05}} with the largest metropolitan Gujarati population outside of India.]]

The highest concentration of the Gujarati American population by a significant margin, with over 100,000 Gujarati individuals, is in the New York City Metropolitan Area, notably in the growing Gujarati diasporic center of India Square, or Little Gujarat, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Edison in Middlesex County in Central New Jersey. Significant immigration from India to the United States started after the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965,{{cite journal|last1=Keely|first1=Charles B.|title=Effects of the immigration act of 1965 on selected population characteristics of immigrants to the United States|journal=Demography|date=May 1971|volume= 8|issue=2|pages=157–169|doi=10.2307/2060606|jstor=2060606|pmid=5163987|s2cid=36538373|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|last1=Khandelwal|first1=MS|title=The politics of space in South asian Diaspora, Chapter 7 Indian immigrants in Queens, New York City: patterns of spatial concentration and distribution, 1965–1990 - Nation and migration: - books.google.com|date=1995|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|location=Philadelphia, USA|isbn=0-8122-3259-3|page=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvTHlLRZL8UC&q=+Immigration+and+Nationality+Act+of+1965+india+united+states+gujarat&pg=PA178|access-date=20 June 2015}} Early immigrants after 1965 were highly educated professionals. Since US immigration laws allow sponsoring immigration of parents, children and particularly siblings on the basis of family reunion, the numbers rapidly swelled in a phenomenon known as "chain migration". Faith plays a big role in the rapidly growing Gujarati community in North Texas, which has three large Hindu temples. Census numbers showed that from 2000 to 2010, the population more than doubled, going from 49,181 to 106,964 for Collin, Dallas, Denton, Rockwall and Tarrant counties. Richardson has a long-established Gujarati population, and it was there that a group of businessmen founded the India Association of North Texas (1962). Changes in recent years have been more drastic.

Given the Gujarati propensity for entrepreneurship and business enterprise, a number of them opened shops and motels. Now in the 21st century over 40% of the hospitality industry in the United States is controlled by Gujaratis.{{cite book |editor-last1= Greve |editor-first1=Henrich R.|editor-first2=Joel A.C. |editor-last2=Baum |last1=Kalnins |first1=Arthur |last2=Chung |first2=Wilbur |title=Multiunit organization and multimarket strategy |date=2001 |publisher=JAI |location=New York |isbn=0-7623-0721-8 |pages=33–48 |edition=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23bcHnkX3bUC&q=patel&pg=PA31}}{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/11/why-indian-americans-dominate-the-u-s-motel-industry/|title=Why Indian Americans Dominate the U.S. Motel Industry|first=W. S. J.|last=Staff|date=11 June 2012|website=Blogs.wsj.com|access-date=27 May 2018}}{{cite web|author1=HIRAL DHOLAKIA-DAVE|title=42% of US hotel business is Gujarati|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/42-of-US-hotel-business-is-Gujarati/articleshow/2191584.cms|website=The Times of India|access-date=5 February 2015|date=Oct 18, 2006|quote=Gujaratis, mainly Patels, now own 21,000 of the 53,000 hotels and motels in the US. It makes for a staggering 42% of the US hospitality market, with a combined worth of $40 billion.}} The descendants of the Gujarati immigrant generation have also made high levels of advancement into professional fields, including as physicians, engineers{{Cite web|last=Dave|first=Shaily|date=2021-02-20|title=My Experience as a Gujarati Student in the States|url=https://thebossmonk.com/society/my-experience-as-a-gujarati-student-in-the-states/|access-date=2021-03-20|website=TheBossMonk|language=en-US}} and politicians. In August 2016, Air India commenced direct, one-seat flight service between Ahmedabad and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, via London Heathrow International Airport.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Air-India-launches-Ahmedabad-to-Newark-flight/articleshow/53710651.cms|title=Air India launches Ahmedabad to Newark flight|author=Ashish Chauhan|newspaper=The Times of India|date=August 15, 2016|access-date=September 8, 2016}}