Guatemalan American

Daphne Zuniga · Luis von Ahn
Total population
758,898 0.26% of the US population [1]
Regions with significant populations
New York City Metropolitan Area
Languages
American English, Spanish
Religion
Predominately Roman Catholic

Part of a series of articles on Hispanic and Latino Americans
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A Guatemalan American is an American of Guatemalan descent.

Their population in 2007 was estimated by the US Census Bureau at 872,334 (+/-29,397).^[2]

Guatemalan-Americans tend to concentrate in the New York City Metro area, followed by Florida, California with communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Colorado, Texas with communities in Dallas and Houston, Georgia, the Washington DC area of Maryland and Virginia, the New England states (i.e. Rhode Island) and Illinois mainly in Chicago.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History of Guatemalans in the USA 2 US communities with high percentages of people of Guatemalan ancestry 3 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Guatemala 4 References 5 See also

[edit] History of Guatemalans in the USA

During the 1970s and 80's, the intensification of the conflict in Guatemala, the civil war since 1960 caused tens of thousands of Guatemalan refugees to cross the Guatemalan-Mexican border and further in the country to the US-Mexico border. A certain percentage entered the US through legal and illegal means. Guatemalan immigration was important to bring an end to the conflict by political activism and economic influences of Guatemalan refugees in the US to Guatemala, the 40-year civil war ended in 1998. By effect, they organized to change policies of the Mexican government in dealing with Guatemalan immigrants' legal status, their experience in Mexico, and difficulties of Guatemalans in Mexico immigrating to the US.

During the Guatemalan civil war, there was massive destruction of rural villages and farmlands. In the 1998 peace accords, there was a free exchange of civilian land to favor the rise of corporate agribusinesses with the drop of prices of local agricultural products. This heavily affected farm workers and habitants of the countryside and they had to immigrate into the US through Mexican territory. After September 11, 2001, Mexican officials made new laws through an initiative limiting immigration visas and other repressive measures on the southern Mexican border through Plan Sur, a binational treaty with the Guatemalan government.

The difference with Guatemalans in the US from other Latinos is a large percentage of Guatemalans are Evangelical Protestants. Guatemala had seen a rise of Protestant and Evangelist churches in the late 20th century, despite the majority of Guatemalans are Roman Catholics. According to the national census in 2006, Protestants constituted about 30% of the population in Guatemala, the majority are from rural indigenous communities. Guatemalan-Americans are an important contributor on the rise of Hispanic Protestants in the USA during the 2000s.

[edit] US communities with high percentages of people of Guatemalan ancestry

The top 25 US communities with the highest percentages of people claiming Guatemalan ancestry are:^[3]

1. Georgetown, Delaware 21.60%
2. Ellijay, Georgia 17.17%
3. Brewster, New York 15.03%
4. Stamford, Connecticut 12.90%
5. Central Falls, Rhode Island 12.29%
6. Langley Park, Maryland 11.26%
7. Green Forest, Arkansas 8.35%
8. Chamblee, Georgia 7.44%
9. Buena Vista, Georgia 7.27%
10. Collinsville, Alabama 7.12%
11. Indiantown, Florida 7.10%
12. Both the town and village of Mount Kisco, New York 6.58%
13. Trion, Georgia 6.17%
14. Schuyler, Nebraska 5.83%
15. Cedartown, Georgia 5.59%
16. Morganton, North Carolina 5.46%
17. Fairview, New Jersey 5.45%
18. Canton, Georgia 5.18%
19. Monterey, Tennessee 5.08%
20. Lexington, Nebraska 4.89%
21. Lake Worth, Florida 4.87%
22. Immokalee, Florida 4.36%
23. Tice, Florida 4.21%
24. Carthage, Missouri 4.06%
25. Siler City, North Carolina 3.96%
26. Jamesport, New York 3.87%

[edit] U.S. communities with the most residents born in Guatemala

Top 25 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Guatemala are:^[4]

1. Georgetown, DE 25.1%
2. East Ellijay, GA 17.7%
3. Ellijay, GA 16.8%
4. Brewster, NY 16.3%
5. Indiantown, FL 14.8%
6. Langley Park, MD 13.4%
7. Central Falls, RI 11.75%
8. Chamblee, GA 10.3%
9. Providence, RI 10.2%
10. Mount Kisco, NY 8.9%
11. Green Forest, AR 8.3%
12. Lexington, NE 8.1%
13. Buena Vista, GA 7.9%
14. Saluda, SC 7.5%
15. Collinsville, AL 7.3%
16. Canton, GA 7.1%
17. Page Park, FL 7.0%
18. Quioque, NY 6.6%
19. Fairview, NJ 6.6%
20. Jennings, FL 6.3%
21. Morganton, NC 6.2%
22. Immokalee, FL 5.6%
23. Monterey, TN 5.4%
24. San Rafael, CA 5.4%
25. Robbins, NC 5.3%
26. Indio, CA 5.1%
27. Coachella, CA 5.0%

[edit] References

[edit] See also

List of Guatemalans

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