U.S. Census Bureau
Table 4. Region and Country or Area of Birth of the Foreign-Born Population, With Geographic Detail Shown in Decennial Census Publications of 1930 or Earlier: 1850 to 1930 and 1960 to 1990
  Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Internet Release date: March 9, 1999

(See text for sources, definitions, and explanations)

Line
number
Region and country or area 1990* 1980* 1970* 1960*
1          Total 19,767,316 14,079,906 9,619,302 9,738,091
2 Reported by region and/or country 18,959,158 13,192,563 9,303,570 9,678,201
3     Europe 4,350,403 5,149,572 5,740,891 7,256,311
4         Northern and Western Europe 2,058,853 2,384,257 2,629,200 3,334,971
5             Northern Europe 968,271 1,083,499 1,271,591 1,694,430
6                British Isles 809,972 866,966 937,474 1,171,777
7                    United Kingdom 640,145 669,149 686,099 833,055
8                        Great Britain 623,614 649,318 645,262 764,893
9                            England 405,588 442,499 458,114 528,205
10                            Scotland 104,168 142,001 170,134 213,219
11                            Wales 10,638 13,528 17,014 23,469
12                            Great Britain n.e.c. 103,220 51,290 (NA) (NA)
13                        Northern Ireland 16,531 19,831 40,837 68,162
14                    Ireland 169,827 197,817 251,375 338,722
15                Scandinavia 158,299 216,533 334,117 522,653
16                    Denmark 34,999 42,732 61,410 85,060
17                    Finland 22,313 29,172 45,499 67,624
18                    Iceland 5,071 4,156 2,895 2,780
19                    Norway 42,240 63,316 97,243 152,698
20                    Sweden 53,676 77,157 127,070 214,491
21             Western Europe 1,090,582 1,300,758 1,357,609 1,640,541
22                Low countries 132,617 142,748 155,513 173,069
23                    Belgium 34,366 36,487 41,412 50,294
24                    Luxembourg 2,053 3,125 3,531 4,360
25                    Netherlands 96,198 103,136 110,570 118,415
26                Austria 87,673 145,607 214,014 304,507
27                France 119,233 120,215 105,385 111,582
28                Germany 711,929 849,384 832,965 989,815
29                Switzerland 39,130 42,804 49,732 61,568
30                Other Western Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
31         Southern and Eastern Europe 2,285,513 2,748,547 3,090,991 3,907,020
32             Southern Europe 1,054,141 1,336,805 1,363,195 1,541,441
33                Greece 177,398 210,998 177,275 159,167
34                Italy 580,592 831,922 1,008,533 1,256,999
35                Portugal 210,122 209,968 119,899 80,276
36                    Azores 29,656 32,531 28,865 22,586
37                    Portugal 180,466 177,437 91,034 57,690
38                Spain 76,415 73,735 57,488 44,999
39                Other Southern Europe 9,614 10,182 (NA) (NA)
40             Eastern Europe 1,231,372 1,411,742 1,727,796 2,365,579
41                Albania 5,627 7,381 9,180 9,618
42                Bulgaria 8,579 8,463 8,609 8,223
43                Czechoslovakia 87,020 112,707 160,899 227,618
44                Estonia 9,210 12,169 12,163 13,991
45                Hungary 110,337 144,368 183,236 245,252
46                Latvia 26,179 34,349 41,707 50,681
47                Lithuania 29,745 48,194 76,001 121,475
48                Poland 388,328 418,128 548,107 747,750
49                Romania 91,106 66,994 70,687 84,575
50                Soviet Union 333,725 406,022 463,462 690,598
51                Turkey in Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
52                Yugoslavia 141,516 152,967 153,745 165,798
53                Other Eastern Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
54         Europe n.e.c. 6,037 16,768 20,700 14,320
55     Asia 4,979,037 2,539,777 824,887 490,996
56         Armenia (X) (X) (X) (X)
57         China 1/ 529,837 286,120 172,132 99,735
58         India 450,406 206,087 51,000 12,296
59         Japan 290,128 221,794 120,235 109,175
60         Palestine 21,070 (NA) (NA) (NA)
61         Syria 36,782 22,081 14,962 16,717
62         Turkey in Asia 55,087 51,915 48,085 52,228
63         Other Asia 3,595,727 1,751,780 418,473 200,845
64     Africa 363,819 199,723 80,143 35,355
65         Africa excl. Atlantic Islands 349,451 189,266 61,463 27,053
66         Atlantic Islands 14,368 10,457 18,680 8,302
67     Oceania 104,145 77,577 41,258 34,730
68         Australia 42,267 36,120 24,271 22,209
69         Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) (X) (X) (X) (X)
70         Other Oceania 61,878 41,457 16,987 12,521
71     Latin America 8,407,837 4,372,487 1,803,970 908,309
72         Caribbean 1,938,348 1,258,363 675,108 193,922
73             Cuba 736,971 607,814 439,048 79,150
74             Other Caribbean 1,201,377 650,549 236,060 114,772
75         Central America 5,431,992 2,553,113 873,624 624,851
76             Mexico 4,298,014 2,199,221 759,711 575,902
77             Other Central America 1,133,978 353,892 113,913 48,949
78         South America 1,037,497 561,011 255,238 89,536
79     Northern America 753,917 853,427 812,421 952,500
80         Canada 744,830 842,859 812,421 952,500
81             Canada-French (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
82             Canada-Other (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
83             Newfoundland (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
84         Other Northern America 9,087 10,568 (NA) (NA)
85 Region or country not reported 808,158 887,343 315,732 59,890
86     Born at sea (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
87     Not reported (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

Line
number
Region and country or area 1930 1920 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 1860 1850 Line
number
1          Total 14,204,149 13,920,692 13,515,886 10,341,276 9,249,547 6,679,943 5,567,229 4,138,697 2,244,602 1
2 Reported by region and/or country 14,197,553 13,911,767 13,506,272 10,330,534 9,243,535 6,675,875 5,563,637 4,134,809 2,202,625 2
3     Europe 11,784,010 11,916,048 11,810,115 8,881,548 8,030,347 5,751,823 4,941,049 3,807,062 2,031,867 3
4         Northern and Western Europe 5,850,256 6,241,916 7,306,325 7,204,649 7,288,917 5,499,889 4,845,679 3,773,347 2,022,195 4
5             Northern Europe 3,415,551 3,501,149 3,953,947 3,917,815 4,056,160 3,212,431 2,867,926 2,271,661 1,358,887 5
6                British Isles 2,147,733 2,172,723 2,573,534 2,783,082 3,122,911 2,772,169 2,626,241 2,199,079 1,340,812 6
7                    United Kingdom 1,402,923 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 7
8                        Great Britain 1,224,091 1,135,489 1,221,283 1,167,623 1,251,402 917,598 770,414 587,775 379,093 8
9                            England 809,563 813,853 877,719 840,513 908,141 662,676 550,924 431,692 278,675 9
10                            Scotland 354,323 254,570 261,076 233,524 242,231 170,136 140,835 108,518 70,550 10
11                            Wales 60,205 67,066 82,488 93,586 100,079 83,302 74,533 45,763 29,868 11
12                            Great Britain n.e.c. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 951 1,484 4,122 1,802 (NA) 12
13                        Northern Ireland 178,832 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 13
14                    Ireland 744,810 1,037,234 1,352,251 1,615,459 1,871,509 1,854,571 1,855,827 1,611,304 961,719 14
15                Scandinavia 1,267,818 1,328,426 1,380,413 1,134,733 933,249 440,262 241,685 72,582 18,075 15
16                    Denmark 179,474 189,154 181,649 153,690 132,543 64,196 30,107 9,962 1,838 16
17                    Finland 142,478 149,824 129,680 62,641 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 17
18                    Iceland 2,764 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 18
19                    Norway 347,852 363,863 403,877 336,388 322,665 181,729 114,246 43,995 12,678 19
20                    Sweden 595,250 625,585 665,207 582,014 478,041 194,337 97,332 18,625 3,559 20
21             Western Europe 2,434,705 2,740,767 3,352,378 3,286,834 3,232,757 2,287,458 1,977,753 1,501,686 663,308 21
22                Low countries 206,375 207,038 172,534 127,719 107,349 86,461 65,157 37,353 11,161 22
23                    Belgium 64,194 62,687 49,400 29,757 22,639 15,535 12,553 9,072 1,313 23
24                    Luxembourg 9,048 12,585 3,071 3,031 2,882 12,836 5,802 (NA) (NA) 24
25                    Netherlands 133,133 131,766 120,063 94,931 81,828 58,090 46,802 28,281 9,848 25
26                Austria 370,914 575,627 626,341 275,907 123,271 38,663 30,508 25,061 946 26
27                France 135,592 153,072 117,418 104,197 113,174 106,971 116,402 109,870 54,069 27
28                Germany 1,608,814 1,686,108 2,311,237 2,663,418 2,784,894 1,966,742 1,690,533 1,276,075 583,774 28
29                Switzerland 113,010 118,659 124,848 115,593 104,069 88,621 75,153 53,327 13,358 29
30                Other Western Europe (NA) 263 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 30
31         Southern and Eastern Europe 5,918,982 5,670,927 4,500,932 1,674,648 728,851 248,620 93,824 32,312 9,672 31
32             Southern Europe 2,133,092 1,939,600 1,544,149 539,968 216,387 66,249 30,416 21,726 8,152 32
33                Greece 174,526 175,976 101,282 8,515 1,887 776 390 328 86 33
34                Italy 1,790,429 1,610,113 1,343,125 484,027 182,580 44,230 17,157 11,677 3,679 34
35                Portugal 108,775 103,976 77,634 40,376 25,735 15,650 8,973 5,477 1,274 35
36                    Azores 35,611 33,995 18,274 9,768 9,739 7,512 4,431 1,361 (NA) 36
37                    Portugal 73,164 69,981 59,360 30,608 15,996 8,138 4,542 4,116 1,274 37
38                Spain 59,362 49,535 22,108 7,050 6,185 5,121 3,764 4,244 3,113 38
39                Other Southern Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 472 132 (NA) (NA) 39
40             Eastern Europe 3,785,890 3,731,327 2,956,783 1,134,680 512,464 182,371 63,408 10,586 1,520 40
41                Albania 8,814 5,608 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 41
42                Bulgaria 9,399 10,477 11,498 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 42
43                Czechoslovakia 491,638 362,438 219,214 156,891 118,106 85,361 40,289 (NA) (NA) 43
44                Estonia 3,550 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 44
45                Hungary 274,450 397,283 495,609 145,714 62,435 11,526 3,737 (NA) (NA) 45
46                Latvia 20,673 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 46
47                Lithuania 193,606 135,068 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 47
48                Poland 1,268,583 1,139,979 937,884 383,407 147,440 48,557 14,436 7,298 (NA) 48
49                Romania 146,393 102,823 65,923 15,032 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 49
50                Soviet Union 1,153,628 1,400,495 1,184,412 423,726 182,644 35,722 4,644 3,160 1,414 50
51                Turkey in Europe 2,257 5,284 32,230 9,910 1,839 1,205 302 128 106 51
52                Yugoslavia 211,416 169,439 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 52
53                Other Eastern Europe 1,483 2,433 10,013 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 53
54         Europe n.e.c. 14,772 3,205 2,858 2,251 12,579 3,314 1,546 1,403 (NA) 54
55     Asia 275,665 237,950 191,484 120,248 113,383 107,630 64,565 36,796 1,135 55
56         Armenia 32,166 36,628 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 56
57         China 1/ 46,129 43,560 56,756 81,534 106,688 104,468 63,042 35,565 758 57
58         India 5,850 4,901 4,664 2,031 2,143 1,707 586 (NA) (NA) 58
59         Japan 70,993 81,502 67,744 24,788 2,292 401 73 (NA) (NA) 59
60         Palestine 6,137 3,203 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 60
61         Syria 57,227 51,901 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 61
62         Turkey in Asia 46,654 11,019 59,729 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 62
63         Other Asia 10,509 5,236 2,591 11,895 2,260 1,054 864 1,231 377 63
64     Africa 18,326 16,126 3,992 2,538 2,207 2,204 2,657 526 551 64
65         Africa excl. Atlantic Islands 8,859 5,781 3,992 2,538 2,207 2,204 2,657 526 551 65
66         Atlantic Islands 9,467 10,345 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 66
67     Oceania 17,343 14,626 11,450 8,820 9,353 6,859 4,028 2,140 588 67
68         Australia 12,816 10,914 9,035 6,807 5,984 4,906 3,118 1,419 (NA) 68
69         Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,304 1,147 584 435 588 69
70         Other Oceania 4,527 3,712 2,415 2,013 2,065 806 326 286 (NA) 70
71     Latin America 791,840 588,843 279,514 137,458 107,307 90,073 57,871 38,315 20,773 71
72         Caribbean 106,241 78,962 47,635 25,435 23,256 16,401 11,570 7,353 5,772 72
73             Cuba 18,493 14,872 15,133 11,081 (NA) 6,917 5,319 (NA) (NA) 73
74             Other Caribbean 87,748 64,090 32,502 14,354 (NA) 9,484 6,251 (NA) (NA) 74
75         Central America 651,976 491,330 223,651 107,290 79,045 69,106 42,736 27,699 13,458 75
76             Mexico 641,462 486,418 221,915 103,393 77,853 68,399 42,435 27,466 13,317 76
77             Other Central America 10,514 4,912 1,736 3,897 1,192 707 301 233 141 77
78         South America 33,623 18,551 8,228 4,733 5,006 4,566 3,565 3,263 1,543 78
79     Northern America 1,310,369 1,138,174 1,209,717 1,179,922 980,938 717,286 493,467 249,970 147,711 79
80         Canada 1,310,369 1,138,174 1,209,717 1,179,922 980,938 717,157 493,464 249,970 147,711 80
81             Canada-French 370,852 307,786 385,083 395,126 302,496 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 81
82             Canada-Other 915,537 817,139 819,554 784,796 678,442 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 82
83             Newfoundland 23,980 13,249 5,080 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 83
84         Other Northern America (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 129 3 (NA) (NA) 84
85 Region or country not reported 6,596 8,925 9,614 10,742 6,012 4,068 3,592 3,888 41,977 85
86     Born at sea 5,008 5,336 6,927 8,196 5,533 4,068 2,638 2,522 (NA) 86
87     Not reported 1,588 3,589 2,687 2,546 479 - 954 1,366 41,977 87

* Indicates sample data.
(NA) Not available.
n.e.c. Not elsewhere classified.
1/ Prior to 1980, Taiwan included with China. See Table 3.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Authors: Campbell Gibson and Emily Lennon
Questions? / 1-866-758-1060
Last Revised: July 09, 2008 at 02:52:20 PM