Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
Encyclopedia
A Non-Resident Indian (NRI; Pravāsī Bhāratīya) is an Indian citizen
who has migrated
to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India
, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian. In common usage, this often includes Indian-born individuals (and also people of other nations with Indian ancestry) who have taken the citizenship of other countries.
A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) is usually a person of Indian origin who is not a citizen of India. For the purposes of issuing a PIO Card, the Indian government considers anyone of Indian origin up to four generations removed to be a PIO. Spouses of people entitled to a PIO card in their own right can also carry PIO cards. This latter category includes foreign spouses of Indian nationals, regardless of ethnic origin. PIO Cards exempt holders from many restrictions applying to foreign nationals, such as visa and work permit requirements, along with certain other economic limitations.
The NRI and PIO population across the world is estimated at over 30 million. As per a UNDP's 2010 report, after China, India has the largest diaspora
in the world, estimated at 25 million, besides being one of the largest "sending" nations in Asia, with an emigration rate of 0.8%. out of which, 72% work in other Asian countries. Also, as per UNESCO
Institute for Statistics the number of Indian students abroad tripled from 51,000 in 1999 to over 153,000 in 2007, making India second after China among the world’s largest sending countries for tertiary students.
Since 2003, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
(Non-resident India Day) sponsored by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
, is being celebrated on January 9 each year in India, to "mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India". The day commemorate the arrival of Mahatama Gandhi in India from South Africa
, and during three-day convention held around the day, a forum for issues concerning the Indian Diaspora is held and the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
Awards are given away. As of January 2006, The Indian government has introduced the "Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)" scheme to allow a limited form of dual citizenship to Indians, NRIs and PIOs for the first time since independence in 1947. The PIO Card scheme is expected to be phased out in coming years in favour of OCI.
, emigrating from India
towards the northwest no earlier than the 11th century. The Romani are generally believed to have originated in central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan
, migrating to northwest India (the Punjab region
) around 250 B.C. In the centuries spent here, there may have been close interaction with such established groups as the Rajputs and the Jats. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is believed to have occurred between 500 A.D. and 1000 A.D. Contemporary populations sometimes suggested as sharing a close relationship to the Romani are the Dom people
of Central Asia
and the Banjara
of India.
Another major emigration from the subcontinent was to South East Asia. It started through early interaction of Indian traders and, after mid-first millennium CE, by some import of Brahmins. This resulted in the establishment of the so-called Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The Cholas
, who were known for their naval power, conquered Sumatra
and Malay Peninsula
. The influence of Indian culture is still strongly felt in South East Asia, for example with the royal Brahmins of Thailand (rajkru), or especially in Bali
(in Indonesia
). In such cases, it is not reasonable to apply the label 'PIO' to the descendants of emigrants from several centuries back. Intermixture has been so great as to negate the value of such nomenclature in this context.
Another early diaspora, of which little is known about was a reported Indian "Shendu" community that was recorded when Yunnan
was annexed by the Han Dynasty
in the 1st century by the Chinese authorities.
The Indian merchant diaspora in Central Asia
and Persia emerged in the mid-16th century and remained active for over four centuries. Astrakhan
at the mouth of the Volga
was the first place in Tsardom of Russia
where an Indian merchant colony was established as early as the 1610s. Russian chroniclers reported the presence of Hindu traders in Moscow
and St. Petersburg in the 18th century.
During the 19th century and until the end of the Raj
, much of the migration
that occurred was of poor workers to other British colonies under the indenture system. The major destinations, in chronological order, were Mauritius
, Guyana
, the Caribbean
, Fiji
, and East Africa
. There was also a small amount of free emigration of skilled labourers and professionals to some of these countries in the twentieth century. The event that triggered this diaspora was the Slavery Abolition Act
passed by the British Parliament on August 1, 1834, which freed the slave labour force throughout the British colonies. This left many of the plantations devoid of adequate work force as the newly freed slaves left to take advantage of their freedom. This resulted in an extreme shortage of labour throughout many of the British colonies which was resolved by a massive importation of workers engaged under contracts of indentured servitude.
An unrelated system involved recruitment of workers for the tea plantations of the neighbouring British colonies of Sri Lanka
and Burma and the rubber plantations of British Malaya
(now Malaysia and Singapore
).
, numerous Indians emigrated to work in the Gulf countries. With modern transportation and expectations, this was on a contractual basis rather than permanent as in the 19th century cases. These Gulf countries have a common policy of not naturalizing non-Arabs, even if they are born there.
The 1990s software boom and rising economy in the USA attracted numerous Indians who emigrated to the United States of America. Today, the USA has the third largest number of Indians.
, Surat
, Konkan
, Malabar
and Lanka
) regularly traveled to East Africa
, especially Zanzibar
. It is believed that they traveled in Arab
dhow
s, Maratha
Navy ships (under Kanhoji Angre
), and possibly Chinese
junks and Portuguese
vessels. Some of these people settled in East Africa
and later spread to places like present day Uganda
. Later they mingled with the much larger wave of South Asians who came with the British
.
Indian migration to the modern countries of Kenya
, Uganda and Tanzania
started nearly a century ago when these were part of British East Africa. Most of these migrants were of Gujarati
or Punjabi origin. Their number may have been as high as 500,000 in the 1960s. Indian-led businesses were (or are) the backbone of the economies of these countries. These ranged in the past from small rural grocery stores to sugar mills. In addition, Indian professionals, such as doctors
, teacher
s, engineer
s, also played an important part in the development of these countries. After independence from Britain in the 1960s, the majority of Asians, as they were known, moved out or were forced out from these countries (in 1970's by Idi Amin
in Uganda
). Most of them moved to Britain, or India
, or other popular destinations like the USA and Canada
.
are descended mostly from traders who arrived in 19th century looking for better opportunities. The majority of them came from the west coast of Indian state of Gujarat known as Karana
(Muslim) and Banian (Hindu). The majority speak Gujarati
, though some other Indian languages are spoken. Nowadays the younger generations speak at least three languages including, French
or English
, Gujarati
and Malagasy
. A large number of Indians are highly educated in Madagascar, particularly the younger generation, who try to contribute their knowledge to the development of Madagascar.
Outside of India itself, Mauritius is the only country where people of Indian Origin form the vast majority (not including Guyana
, Trinidad & Tobago where Afro-Trinidadians and Indo-Trinidadians have equal populations, or Fiji
where the Indo-Fijians once formed the majority but not today). The people are known as Indo-Mauritian
s, and form about 70% of the population. The majority of them are Hindu
(77%) and a significant group are Muslims (22%). There are also some Christians, Bahá'ís and Sikhs, but the Bahá'ís and Sikh populations do not add up to even 1% of the population. Various Indian languages are still spoken, especially Bhojpuri, Tamil
, Marathi
, Telugu
, Hindi
, and Urdu
, but most Indo-Mauritians now speak a French
-based Creole language
at home, as well as French in general fields. Finding an Indo-Mauritian who exclusively speaks an Indian language is very rare.
.
(KZN). A minority are descended from Indian traders who migrated to South Africa at around the same time, many from the Gujarat area. The city of Durban
has the highest number of Asians in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi
worked as a lawyer in the city in the early 1900s. South Africa in fact has the highest number of people of Indian descent outside of India in the world, i.e. born in South Africa and not migrant, compared to the U.S. Most of them are fourth to fifth generation descent. Most Indian South Africans do not speak the Indian languages which were 'lost' over the generations, although they do enjoy watching Indian movies and listening to Indian music.
numbers around 5000.
Indians have been living in Indonesia for centuries from the time of the Srivijaya
and Majapahit Empire
both of which were Hindu
and heavily influenced by the subcontinent. India
ns were later brought to Indonesia by the Dutch
in the 19th century as indentured laborers to work on plantations located around Medan
in Sumatra
. While the majority of these came from South India
, a significant number also came from the north India. The Medan Indians included Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. They have now been in Indonesia for over four generations and hold Indonesian passports. While local statistics continue to suggest that there are some 40,000 PIOs in Sumatra
, the vast majority are now completely assimilated in Indonesian society, though some elements of the Tamil
, Sikh
and Bihari
Communities still maintain their cultural traditions.
The Indian Diaspora also includes several thousand Sindhi families who constitute the second wave of Indian immigrants who made Indonesia their home in the first half of the 20th century. The Sindhi community is mainly engaged in trading
and commerce
.
Among these communities, Tamils and to a lesser extent Sikhs were primarily engaged in agriculture
while Sindhis and Punjabis mainly established themselves in textile
trade and sports business.
The inflow of major Indian investments in Indonesia starting in the late 1970s drew a fresh wave of Indian investors and managers to this country. This group of entrepreneurs and business professionals has further expanded over the past two decades and now includes engineers, consultants, chartered accountants, bankers and other professionals.
The Indian community is very well regarded in Indonesia, is generally prosperous and includes individuals holding senior positions in local and multinational companies.
Due to economic factors, most traders
and businessmen among PIOs have over past decades moved to Jakarta
from outlying areas such as Medan
and Surabaya
. Almost half the Indian Community in Indonesia is now Jakarta-based; it is estimated that the population of Jakarta's Indian community is about 19,000. There are six main social or professional associations in Jakarta's Indian PIO/NRI community. Gandhi Seva Loka (formerly known as Bombay Merchants Association) is a charitable institution run by the Sindhi community and is engaged mainly in educational and social activities. The India Club is a social organization of PIO/NRI professionals. An Indian Women's Association brings together PIO/NRI spouses and undertakes charitable activities. There is a Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee in Jakarta
and Sindhis as well as Sikhs are associated with Gurudwara activities The (ECAII) brings together leading entrepreneurs from the Indian community with the objective of promoting bilateral economic relations, but has been largely inactive. Finally, there is the (ICAI).
Malaysia has one of the world's largest overseas Chinese
and overseas Indian populations. Most Indians migrated to Malaysia as plantation laborers under British rule. They are a significant minority ethnic group, making up 8% of the Malaysian population. Most of these people are Tamils
but Malayalam- Telugu
, Punjabi
and Gujarati
- speaking people are also present. They have retained their languages and religion — 80% of ethnic Indians in Malaysia identify as Hindus. A significant number of the population are Sikhs and the rest are Christians and Muslims.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty
, who are the descendants of Tamil
traders who had emigrated before 1500 AD, and Chinese
and Malay locals. Considering themselves Tamil
, speaking Malay
, and practicing Hinduism
, the Chittys number about 2000 today.
. Most are concentrated in Manila
, Cebu
, and Davao
, and even in places like Zamboanga
, and other major cities and small towns of the named 11 islands.
Indians from Chennai
, Tamil Nadu
, India
also came with the British expedition against Manila
that took the city from the Spaniards and occupied Manila
and the area around Caintâ and Morong
(which is now Rizal
province) between 1762 and 1763. Many of them refused to leave, mutinied, and married local Tagalog
women, which explains why many Filipinos
around Caintâ, Rizal
are India
n descendants. Many Indians have intermarried with Filipinos, more so than in neighboring countries such as Indonesia
, Malaysia, and Singapore
, mainly because their populations are largely Muslim
, and Islam doesn't recognized non-Muslim males who marry Muslims. During the 1930s and 1940s, many Indians and Indian Filipinos lived in Filipino provinces, including Davao
, which at the time had, and still have, many Japanese
and Japanese Filipinos. When the economy of the Philippines
were based in Manila
, many moved there, which explains why today half of the Indian and Indian Filipino community are now based there.
Most of the Indians and Indian Filipinos in the Philippines are Sindhi
and Punjabi, but there is also a large Tamil population as well. Many are fluent in Tagalog
and English
as well as the local language of the provinces and islands. Many are prosperous middle and higher class with their main occupations in clothing
sales and marketing
. Sikhs are involved largely in finance
, and sales
and marketing
. Most of the Indians and Indian Filipinos are Hindu
and Sikh
, but have assimilated into Filipino culture and some are Catholic
. There is a main Hindu
and Sikh
temple in Manila
, and all over the Philippine provinces as well.
Indians in Singapore – defined as persons of South Asia
n paternal ancestry – form 10% of the country's citizens and permanent residents, making them Singapore
's third largest ethnic group
. Among cities, Singapore has one of the largest overseas Indian populations.
Although contact with ancient India left a deep cultural impact on Singapore's indigenous Malay
society, the mass migration of ethnic Indians to the island only began with the founding of modern Singapore
by the British in 1819. Initially, the Indian population was transient, mainly comprising young men who came as workers, soldiers and convicts. By the mid-20th century, a settled community had emerged, with a more balanced gender ratio
and a better spread of age groups
. Tamil
is one among the four official languages of Singapore alongside with English
, Chinese
and Malay
.
Singapore's Indian population is notable for its class stratification
, with disproportionately large elite
and lower income groups. This long-standing problem has grown more visible since the 1990s with an influx of both well-educated and unskilled migrants from India, and as part of growing income inequality in Singapore. Indians earn higher incomes than Malays
, the other major minority group. Indians are also significantly more likely to hold university degrees than these groups. However, the mainly locally born Indian students in public primary and secondary schools under-perform the national average at major examinations.
Singapore Indians are linguistically and religiously diverse, with ethnic Tamils
and nominal Hindu
s forming small majorities. Indian culture has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. By the mid to late 20th century, it had become somewhat distinct from contemporary South Asian cultures, even as Indian elements became diffused within a broader Singaporean culture
. Since the 1990s, new Indian immigrants have increased the size and complexity of the local Indian population. Together with modern communications like cable television
and the internet
, this has connected Singapore with an emerging global Indian culture.
Prominent Indian individuals have long made a mark in Singapore as leaders of various fields in national life. Indians are also collectively well represented, and sometimes over-represented, in areas such as politics
, education
, diplomacy
and the law.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty
, who are the descendants of Tamil traders who had emigrated before 1500 AD, and Chinese and Malay locals. Considering themselves Tamil
, speaking Malay
, and practicing Hinduism, the Chittys number about 2000 today. Also there are many Marwaris
in Singapore doing business successfully.
, in 2006 there were 962,665 people who classified themselves as being of Indian origin, including terms of "East Indian", South Asian or Indo-Canadian. In 2001, Sikhs represented 34%, Hindus 27%, Muslims 17% and Christians 16% (7% Protestant/evangelical,9% Catholic) of the total people of Indian origin in Canada. Relatively few people of Indian origin have no religious affiliation. The main Indian ethnic communities are Punjabi
s as well as Gujarati
s, Tamil
s (Indian as opposed to Sri Lankan), Indo-Caribbeans (numbering approximately 200,000),Kannadigas, Keralites, Bengalis
, Sindhis
and others.
The first known Indian settlers in Canada were Indian army
soldiers who had passed through Canada in 1897 on their way back home from attending Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration in London, England. Some are believed to have remained in British Columbia
and others returned there later. Punjabi Indians were attracted to the possibilities for farming and forestry
. They were mainly male Sikh
s who were seeking work opportunities. Indo-Caribbean, descendants of the Indian indentured workers who had gone to the Caribbean
since 1838, made an early appearance in Canada with the arrival of the Trinidadian medical student Kenneth Mahabir and the Demerara (now Guyana) clerk M.N. Santoo, both in 1908.
The first Indian immigrants in British Columbia
allegedly faced widespread racism
from the local white Canadians. Race riots targeted these immigrants, as well as new Chinese
immigrants. Most decided to return to India
, while a few stayed behind. The Canadian government prevented these men from bringing their wives and children until 1919, another reason why many of them chose to leave. Quotas were established to prevent many Indians from moving to Canada in the early 20th century. These quotas allowed fewer than 100 people from India a year until 1957, when the number was increased to 300. In 1967, all quotas were scrapped. Immigration was then based on a point system, thus allowing many more Indians to enter. Since this open-door policy was adopted, Indians continue to come in large numbers, and roughly 25,000-30,000 arrive each year (which now makes Indians the second highest group immigrating to Canada each year, after the Chinese
).
Most Indians choose to immigrate to larger urban centers like Toronto
, and Vancouver
, where more than 70 percent live. Smaller communities are also growing in Calgary
, Edmonton
and Montreal
. Indians in Vancouver
are from diverse locations in India, such as Punjab
, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu
, Andhra Pradesh
, Karnataka
and Kerala
. A place called Little India exists in Vancouver and a section of Gerrard Street (Toronto) in Toronto as well. Indians in Vancouver mainly live in the suburb of Surrey
, or nearby Abbotsford
but are also found in other parts of Vancouver. The vast majority of Vancouver Indians are of Sikh origin and have taken significant roles in politics and other professions, with several Supreme Court justices
, three Attorneys General
and one provincial premier hailing from the community.
The Greater Toronto Area
contains the second largest population of Indian descent in North America
, enumerating 484,655 residents of Indian origin as of 2006, surpassed only by the 575,541 estimate by the 2007 American Community Survey for the New York
Combined Statistical Area
. Note, however, that the Toronto count (but not the New York count) includes individuals of West Indian/Indo-Caribbean
descent.
ns from the former British Raj
or British India, were brought to the British West Indies
as indentured servant
s to address the demand for labour following the abolition of slavery
. The first two shiploads arrived in British Guiana
(now Guyana
) on May 5, 1838.
The majority of the Indians living in the English-speaking Caribbean
came from eastern Uttar Pradesh
and western Bihar
, while those brought to Guadeloupe
and Martinique
were mostly from, but not only, from Andhra Pradesh
and Tamil Nadu
. A minority emigrated from other parts of South Asia
, including present-day Pakistan
and Bangladesh
. Other Indo-Caribbean people descend from later migrants, including Indian doctors, Gujarati
businessmen and migrants from Kenya
and Uganda
. A vague community of modern-day immigrants from India is to be found on Saint-Martin / Sint Maarten and other islands with duty-free commercial capabilities, where they are active in business.
Indo-Caribbeans are the largest ethnic group in Guyana
, Suriname
, and Trinidad and Tobago
. They are the second largest group in Jamaica
, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
and other countries. There are small populations of them in Bahamas, Barbados
, Belize
, French Guiana
, Grenada
, Panama
, St. Lucia, Haiti
, Martinique
and Guadeloupe
.
The indentured Indians and their descendants have actively contributed to the evolution of their adopted lands in spite of many difficulties. Jamaica
has always celebrated the arrival of the East Indians in Old Harbour Bay on May 13. In 2003, Martinique
celebrated the 150th anniversary of Indian arrival. Guadeloupe
did the same in 2004. These celebrations were not the fact of just the Indian minority but the official recognition by the French
and local authorities of their integration and their wide-scale contribution in various fields from Agriculture
to Education
, Politics
, and to the diversification of the Creole culture. Thus the noted participation of the whole multi-ethnic population of the two islands in these events.
. They were referred to in the U.S. as Hindus (due to a common American misconception that everyone in India was a Hindu
and also for want of a term that distinguished these immigrants from Native Americans
who were then called Indians).
Asian women were restricted from immigrating, because the US government passed laws in 1917 at the behest of California and other states in the west, which had experienced a large influx of Chinese, Japanese and Indian immigrants during and after the gold rush. As a result, many of the South Asian men in California married Mexican
women. A fair number of these families settled down in the Central Valley in California as farmers, and continue to this day. These early immigrants were denied voting rights, family re-unification and citizenship. In 1923 the Supreme Court of the United States
, in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind
, ruled that people from India (at the time, British India, e.g. South Asians) were ineligible for citizenship. Thind became a citizen a few years later in New York
. Bhagat Singh Thind
was a Sikh
from India
who settled in Oregon
; he had earlier applied for citizenship and been rejected in Oregon
.
After World War II, US immigration policy changed to allow family re-unification for people of non-white origin after being banned for almost half a century. In addition, Asians were allowed to become citizens and to vote. A large number of the men who arrived before the 1940s were finally able to bring their families to the US; most of them settled in California
and other west coast states.
Another wave of Indian immigrants entered the U.S. in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. A large proportion of them were Sikhs joining their family members under the new more (though not completely) color-blind immigration laws, and professionals or students that came from all over India. The Cold War created a need for engineers in the defense and aerospace industries, many of whom came from India. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marwaris
, Gujarati
and South Indian Telugu people
settled in the U.S. . Overall Telugus, Marwaris
, Gujaratis, and Punjabis are the most prominent groups of Indian origin. The most recent and probably the largest wave of immigration to date occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000 during the internet boom. As a result, Indians in the U.S. are now one of the largest among the groups of Indian diaspora
with an estimated population of about 2.7 million. In contrast to the earliest groups of Indians who entered the US workforce as taxi drivers, laborers, farmers or small business owners, the later arrivals often came as professionals or completed graduate study here and moved into the professions. They have become very successful financially thanks to the hi-tech industry, and are thus probably the most well-off community of immigrants. They are well represented in all walks of life, but particularly so in academia
, information technology
and medicine
. There were over 4,000 PIO professors and 84,000 Indian-born students in American universities in 2007-08. The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin boasts a membership of 35,000. In 2000, Fortune magazine
estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs at around $250 billion. The combined wealth of the non-resident Indian community is estimated to be over 1 trillion dollars according to a report by the High-Powered expert committee appointed by the center.http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=85477
Though currently the Indian diaspora in the US is largely concentrated in metropolitan areas such as New York
(with the largest Indian American population, enumerating 575,541 individuals according to 2007 American Community Survey estimates by the U.S. Census) - as well as Washington D.C.
, Boston
, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago
, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles
, and San Francisco - almost every metropolitan area in the US has a community of Indians.
The Indian emigrant community in the United Kingdom is now in its third generation. Indians in the UK are the largest community outside of Asia
proportionally, and the second largest in terms of population, only surpassed by the United States
, and closely followed by Canada
. The first wave of Indians in the United Kingdom worked as manual labourers and were not respected within society. However, this has changed considerably. Third and fourth generation immigrants are on the whole proving to be very successful, especially in the fields of law, business and medecine. Despite only making up 3% of the population, Indians account for 45% of students at private schools, demonstrating the financial prosperity enjoyed by many of the immigrants.
Indian culture has been constantly referenced within the wider British culture, at first as an "exotic" influence in films like My Beautiful Laundrette
, but now increasingly as a familiar feature in films like Bend It Like Beckham
.
According to the April 2001 UK National Census,
There are 1,051,800 people of Indian origin in the UK. The main ethnic groups are Marwaris, Tamils, Panjabis, Gujaratis, Bengalis and Anglo-Indians. Hindus comprise 45% of the population, Sikhs 29%, Muslims 13%, Christians nearly 5%, with the remainder made up of Jains (15,000), Parsis (Zoroastrians), Buddhists and those who stated no religion. 2005 estimates state 2.41% of England's population as being Indian (not including mixed race), which would be around 1,215,400 (see Demographics of England). Following the continuous trend (including those of mixed Indian ancestry), in 2008 there are likely to be well over 1,600,000 Indian people in the UK. Some are Atheist (<1%).
Most Indians in the United Kingdom have settled in London, the Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and the South East. Their presence in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other regions is not as large. The first generation of immigrants were to be found in the east-end of London which, traditionally was the poorest area in London. However, due to gentrification, this is no longer the case.
There are 2,360,000 people currently speaking Indian languages in the United Kingdom.
, most coming from Kerala
and other south Indian states, especially in the oil
rich countries neighboring the Persian Gulf
. Most moved to the Gulf after the oil boom
to work as engineers, doctors, lawyers,labourers and for clerical jobs. Indians – all foreigners, in fact – in the Gulf do not normally become citizens however. They retain their Indian passports since most of the countries in the Gulf do not provide citizenship
or permanent residency. One of the major reasons why Indians like to work in the Gulf is because it provides incomes many times over for the same type of job back in India
and its geographical proximity to India
. The Indian Diaspora makes up a good proportion of the working class in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In 2005, about 40% of the population in the United Arab Emirates
were of Indian descent.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states include Saudi Arabia
, Kuwait
, Bahrain
, Qatar
, United Arab Emirates
and Oman
. NRI population in these GCC countries is estimated to be around 6,000,000 (2006–2007), of which over 1,500,000 stay in the UAE. Majority of them originate from Rajasthan
, Kerala
, Uttar Pradesh
, Andhra Pradesh
, Karnataka
, Tamil Nadu
and Bihar
. NRI population tends to save and remit considerable amount to their dependents in India
. It is estimated such remittances may be over USD 10 billion per annum (including remittances by formal and informal channels in 2005-2006). (Source: Research by S.Kadwe, 2007).
' onMouseout='HidePop("40153")' href="/topics/Marathi_language">Marathi
:बेने इस्राएल) are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby India
n cities, primarily Mumbai
, but also to Pune
, and Ahmedabad
. In the second half of the 20th Century most of them emigrated to Israel
, where they now number about 60,000. The native language of the Bene Israel is Judæo-Marathi
, a form of Marathi
.
Another group of Indians to arrive in Israel belong to the Bnei Menashe
("Children of Menasseh
", Hebrew
בני מנשה) a group of more than 9,000 people from India
's North-Eastern border states
of Manipur
and Mizoram
, who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel
, and of whom about 1,700 now live in Israel (some of them in Israeli settlement
s on the West Bank
). Linguistically, Bnei Menashe are Tibeto-Burmans
and belong to the Mizo, Kuki
and Chin people
s (the terms are virtually interchangeable). The move to convert them to Judaism and bring them to Israel is politically controversial in both India and Israel.
It is said that the first Indian had come to Australia as part of Captain Cook's ship. Before roads and road transport were developed, many Indians had come to Australia to run camel trains. They would transport goods and mail via camel in the desert. Some of the earliest Punjabi
arrivals in Australia included Kareem Bux who came as a hawker to Bendigo in 1893, Sardar Beer Singh Johal who came in 1895 and Sardar Narain Singh Heyer who arrived in 1898. Many Punjabis
took part in the rush for gold on the Victorian fields.
Indians also entered Australia in the first half of the 20th century when both Australia and India were still British colonies. Indian Sikhs came to work on the banana plantations in Southern Queensland. Today a large number of them live in the town of Woolgoolga (a town lying roughly half-way between Sydney
and Brisbane
). Some of these Indians, the descendants of Sikh plantation workers, now own banana
farm
s in the area. There are two Sikh
temples in Woolgoolga. One of which even has a museum
dedicated to Sikhism. A large number of Briton
s and Anglo-Indian
s born in India migrated to Australia after 1947. These British citizens decided to settle in Australia in large numbers but are still counted as 'Indian' Nationals in the census. The third wave of Indians entered the country in the 1980s, after the demise of the white Australia policy
. After the policy was abolished many Indian teacher
s and doctors
settled in Australia. Another big influx began with the IT
revolution. Large numbers of Indian software professionals arrived in Australia from 1976 onwards. After successive military coups in Fiji
of 1987 and 2000 a significant number of Fijian-Indians migrated to Australia as such there is a large Fijian-Indian population in Australia. Fijian-Indians have significantly changed the character of the Indian community in Australia. While most earlier Indian migration was by educated professionals, the Fijian-Indian community was also largely by professionals but also brought many small business owners and entrepreneurs.
The current wave of Indian migration is that of engineers, tool-makers, Gujarati business families from East Africa
and relatives of settled Indians. Starved of government funding, Australian education institutes are recruiting full fee paying overseas students. Many universities have permanent representatives stationed in India and other Asian countries. Their efforts have been rewarded and a new influx of Indian students entering Australia. The total number of student visas granted to Indian students for 2006-2007 were 34,136; a significant rise from 2002 to 2003 when 7,603 student visa's were granted Indian students.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 87% of Indians residing in Australia are aged under 50 and over 83% of the population are proficient in English. Many in the community are Hindu and Sikh, while there are also smaller number of Christians and Muslims.
Indians began to arrive in New Zealand
in the late eighteenth century, mostly as crews on British ships. A small number deserted; the earliest known Indian resident of New Zealand was living with a Māori wife in the Bay of Islands in 1815. Numbers slowly increased through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, despite a law change in 1899 which was designed to keep out people who were not of 'British birth and parentage'. As in many other countries, Indians in New Zealand dispersed throughout the country and had a high rate of small business ownership, particularly fruit and vegetable shops and convenience stores. At this stage most Indian New Zealanders originated from Gujarat. Changes in immigration policy in the 1980s allowed many more India
ns, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis into the country, and the 1987 and 2000 military coups in Fiji
caused a large increase in the number of Fijian Indians coming to New Zealand. Notable Indian New Zealanders include former Dunedin
mayor Sukhi Turner
, cricketer Dipak Patel
, singer Aaradhna
, and former Governor General Anand Satyanand
.
Indian nationality law
The Indian citizenship and nationality law and the Constitution of India provides single citizenship for the entire country. The provisions relating to citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution are contained in Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution of India...
who has migrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian. In common usage, this often includes Indian-born individuals (and also people of other nations with Indian ancestry) who have taken the citizenship of other countries.
A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) is usually a person of Indian origin who is not a citizen of India. For the purposes of issuing a PIO Card, the Indian government considers anyone of Indian origin up to four generations removed to be a PIO. Spouses of people entitled to a PIO card in their own right can also carry PIO cards. This latter category includes foreign spouses of Indian nationals, regardless of ethnic origin. PIO Cards exempt holders from many restrictions applying to foreign nationals, such as visa and work permit requirements, along with certain other economic limitations.
The NRI and PIO population across the world is estimated at over 30 million. As per a UNDP's 2010 report, after China, India has the largest diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
in the world, estimated at 25 million, besides being one of the largest "sending" nations in Asia, with an emigration rate of 0.8%. out of which, 72% work in other Asian countries. Also, as per UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Institute for Statistics the number of Indian students abroad tripled from 51,000 in 1999 to over 153,000 in 2007, making India second after China among the world’s largest sending countries for tertiary students.
Since 2003, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas , is celebrated in India on 9 January each year to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India. The day commemorates the arrival of Mahatama Gandhi in India from South Africa...
(Non-resident India Day) sponsored by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is part of the government of India. The ministry, as of May 2008, is headed by Vayalar Ravi.Its website states:...
, is being celebrated on January 9 each year in India, to "mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India". The day commemorate the arrival of Mahatama Gandhi in India from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and during three-day convention held around the day, a forum for issues concerning the Indian Diaspora is held and the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is an award constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas , to honor exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field/profession...
Awards are given away. As of January 2006, The Indian government has introduced the "Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)" scheme to allow a limited form of dual citizenship to Indians, NRIs and PIOs for the first time since independence in 1947. The PIO Card scheme is expected to be phased out in coming years in favour of OCI.
History
It must be pointed out that strictly speaking "non-resident Indian" refers only to the tax status of a person, i.e., someone who, under Income Tax Act of 1961 has not resided in India for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (under Section 6), but is a citizen of India nonetheless. Residence in India, for the purposes of the Indian Income Tax Act requires stay in India of at least 182 days in a given calendar year or 365 days spread out over four consecutive years. This requirement applies to all individuals, in that a person with non-Indian citizenship can also be "resident in India" for the purposes of the Act, but a resident Indian would only be one who meets the above requirement and possesses Indian citizenship. Likewise, anyone who is not a resident of India according to the Act, is, obviously a non-resident of India, but only those who possess Indian citizenship but do not meet the requirement of residence are treated as Non-Resident Indians.Historical migrations out of India
The most significant historical emigration from India was that of the Romani people, traditionally known by the term "Gypsies". Linguistic and genetic evidence indicates the Romanies originated from the Indian subcontinentIndian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, emigrating from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
towards the northwest no earlier than the 11th century. The Romani are generally believed to have originated in central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, migrating to northwest India (the Punjab region
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
) around 250 B.C. In the centuries spent here, there may have been close interaction with such established groups as the Rajputs and the Jats. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is believed to have occurred between 500 A.D. and 1000 A.D. Contemporary populations sometimes suggested as sharing a close relationship to the Romani are the Dom people
Dom people
The Dom of the Middle East are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. Some authors relate them to the Domba people of India.- Culture :...
of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and the Banjara
Banjara
The Banjara are a class of usually described as nomadic people from the Indian state of Rajasthan, North-West Gujarat, and Western Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Sindh province of pre-independence Pakistan...
of India.
Another major emigration from the subcontinent was to South East Asia. It started through early interaction of Indian traders and, after mid-first millennium CE, by some import of Brahmins. This resulted in the establishment of the so-called Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The Cholas
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
, who were known for their naval power, conquered Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
and Malay Peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
. The influence of Indian culture is still strongly felt in South East Asia, for example with the royal Brahmins of Thailand (rajkru), or especially in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
(in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
). In such cases, it is not reasonable to apply the label 'PIO' to the descendants of emigrants from several centuries back. Intermixture has been so great as to negate the value of such nomenclature in this context.
Another early diaspora, of which little is known about was a reported Indian "Shendu" community that was recorded when Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
was annexed by the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
in the 1st century by the Chinese authorities.
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Persia emerged in the mid-16th century and remained active for over four centuries. Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
at the mouth of the Volga
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
was the first place in Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
where an Indian merchant colony was established as early as the 1610s. Russian chroniclers reported the presence of Hindu traders in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and St. Petersburg in the 18th century.
During the 19th century and until the end of the Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, much of the migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
that occurred was of poor workers to other British colonies under the indenture system. The major destinations, in chronological order, were Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. There was also a small amount of free emigration of skilled labourers and professionals to some of these countries in the twentieth century. The event that triggered this diaspora was the Slavery Abolition Act
Slavery Abolition Act
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...
passed by the British Parliament on August 1, 1834, which freed the slave labour force throughout the British colonies. This left many of the plantations devoid of adequate work force as the newly freed slaves left to take advantage of their freedom. This resulted in an extreme shortage of labour throughout many of the British colonies which was resolved by a massive importation of workers engaged under contracts of indentured servitude.
An unrelated system involved recruitment of workers for the tea plantations of the neighbouring British colonies of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Burma and the rubber plantations of British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
(now Malaysia and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
).
Emigration from the Republic of India
After the 1970s oil boom in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, numerous Indians emigrated to work in the Gulf countries. With modern transportation and expectations, this was on a contractual basis rather than permanent as in the 19th century cases. These Gulf countries have a common policy of not naturalizing non-Arabs, even if they are born there.
The 1990s software boom and rising economy in the USA attracted numerous Indians who emigrated to the United States of America. Today, the USA has the third largest number of Indians.
East Africa
Before the larger wave of migration during the British colonial era, a significant group of South Asians, especially from the west coast (SindhSindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
, Konkan
Konkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
, Malabar
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
and Lanka
Lanka
Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
) regularly traveled to East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, especially Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. It is believed that they traveled in Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
s, Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
Navy ships (under Kanhoji Angre
Kanhoji Angre
Kanhoji Angre or Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angre was the first notable chief of the Maratha Navy in 18th century India. He fought successfully all his life against the British, Dutch and Portuguese naval interests in the Indian Ocean during the 18th century, and hence was alleged by them to be a...
), and possibly Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
junks and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
vessels. Some of these people settled in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and later spread to places like present day Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. Later they mingled with the much larger wave of South Asians who came with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Indian migration to the modern countries of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Uganda and Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
started nearly a century ago when these were part of British East Africa. Most of these migrants were of Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
or Punjabi origin. Their number may have been as high as 500,000 in the 1960s. Indian-led businesses were (or are) the backbone of the economies of these countries. These ranged in the past from small rural grocery stores to sugar mills. In addition, Indian professionals, such as doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s, also played an important part in the development of these countries. After independence from Britain in the 1960s, the majority of Asians, as they were known, moved out or were forced out from these countries (in 1970's by Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
). Most of them moved to Britain, or India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, or other popular destinations like the USA and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Madagascar
Indians in MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
are descended mostly from traders who arrived in 19th century looking for better opportunities. The majority of them came from the west coast of Indian state of Gujarat known as Karana
Karanam
Karanam or Karana is a community mostly prevalent in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.-Names:In Orissa, this class is referred to as Karana, and in Andhra Pradesh they are also called Sristikaranam, Sistukaranam, Sistakaranam, Sristikaranalu, Sistukaranalu, Sistakaranalu or Karanalu.The Karanam community...
(Muslim) and Banian (Hindu). The majority speak Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
, though some other Indian languages are spoken. Nowadays the younger generations speak at least three languages including, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
and Malagasy
Malagasy language
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
. A large number of Indians are highly educated in Madagascar, particularly the younger generation, who try to contribute their knowledge to the development of Madagascar.
Mauritius
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Trinidad & Tobago where Afro-Trinidadians and Indo-Trinidadians have equal populations, or Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
where the Indo-Fijians once formed the majority but not today). The people are known as Indo-Mauritian
Indo-Mauritian
Indo-Mauritians are people of Indian descent living on the island of Mauritius, where they represent a majority comprising 68% of the population according to the July 2007 statistics...
s, and form about 70% of the population. The majority of them are Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
(77%) and a significant group are Muslims (22%). There are also some Christians, Bahá'ís and Sikhs, but the Bahá'ís and Sikh populations do not add up to even 1% of the population. Various Indian languages are still spoken, especially Bhojpuri, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, but most Indo-Mauritians now speak a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-based Creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
at home, as well as French in general fields. Finding an Indo-Mauritian who exclusively speaks an Indian language is very rare.
Réunion
Indians make up a quarter of Réunion's population. Most originally came as indentured workers from South IndiaSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
.
South Africa
Most Asians in South Africa are descended from indentured Indian labourers who were brought by the British from India in the 19th century, mostly to work in the sugar cane plantations of what is now the province of KwaZulu-NatalKwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
(KZN). A minority are descended from Indian traders who migrated to South Africa at around the same time, many from the Gujarat area. The city of Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
has the highest number of Asians in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
worked as a lawyer in the city in the early 1900s. South Africa in fact has the highest number of people of Indian descent outside of India in the world, i.e. born in South Africa and not migrant, compared to the U.S. Most of them are fourth to fifth generation descent. Most Indian South Africans do not speak the Indian languages which were 'lost' over the generations, although they do enjoy watching Indian movies and listening to Indian music.
Indonesia
Though there are no official figures, it is estimated that there are around 25,000 PIOs/NRIs living in Indonesia of which the Indian expatriate community registered with the Embassy and our Consulate in MedanMedan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
numbers around 5000.
Indians have been living in Indonesia for centuries from the time of the Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
and Majapahit Empire
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
both of which were Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and heavily influenced by the subcontinent. India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns were later brought to Indonesia by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in the 19th century as indentured laborers to work on plantations located around Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
. While the majority of these came from South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, a significant number also came from the north India. The Medan Indians included Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. They have now been in Indonesia for over four generations and hold Indonesian passports. While local statistics continue to suggest that there are some 40,000 PIOs in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, the vast majority are now completely assimilated in Indonesian society, though some elements of the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
, Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
and Bihari
Bihari people
The Biharis are an ethnic group originating from the present state of Bihar with a history going back three millennia...
Communities still maintain their cultural traditions.
The Indian Diaspora also includes several thousand Sindhi families who constitute the second wave of Indian immigrants who made Indonesia their home in the first half of the 20th century. The Sindhi community is mainly engaged in trading
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
and commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
.
Among these communities, Tamils and to a lesser extent Sikhs were primarily engaged in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
while Sindhis and Punjabis mainly established themselves in textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
trade and sports business.
The inflow of major Indian investments in Indonesia starting in the late 1970s drew a fresh wave of Indian investors and managers to this country. This group of entrepreneurs and business professionals has further expanded over the past two decades and now includes engineers, consultants, chartered accountants, bankers and other professionals.
The Indian community is very well regarded in Indonesia, is generally prosperous and includes individuals holding senior positions in local and multinational companies.
Due to economic factors, most traders
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and businessmen among PIOs have over past decades moved to Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
from outlying areas such as Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
and Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
. Almost half the Indian Community in Indonesia is now Jakarta-based; it is estimated that the population of Jakarta's Indian community is about 19,000. There are six main social or professional associations in Jakarta's Indian PIO/NRI community. Gandhi Seva Loka (formerly known as Bombay Merchants Association) is a charitable institution run by the Sindhi community and is engaged mainly in educational and social activities. The India Club is a social organization of PIO/NRI professionals. An Indian Women's Association brings together PIO/NRI spouses and undertakes charitable activities. There is a Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
and Sindhis as well as Sikhs are associated with Gurudwara activities The (ECAII) brings together leading entrepreneurs from the Indian community with the objective of promoting bilateral economic relations, but has been largely inactive. Finally, there is the (ICAI).
Malaysia
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
and overseas Indian populations. Most Indians migrated to Malaysia as plantation laborers under British rule. They are a significant minority ethnic group, making up 8% of the Malaysian population. Most of these people are Tamils
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
but Malayalam- Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
- speaking people are also present. They have retained their languages and religion — 80% of ethnic Indians in Malaysia identify as Hindus. A significant number of the population are Sikhs and the rest are Christians and Muslims.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty
Chitty
The Chitty are a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca and Singapore , who are also known as the Indian Peranakans. As of today, their population stands at 2,000.-Language:...
, who are the descendants of Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
traders who had emigrated before 1500 AD, and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
and Malay locals. Considering themselves Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
, speaking Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, and practicing Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the Chittys number about 2000 today.
Philippines
At present time, there are approximately 38,000 and more Indians and Indian Filipinos who are PIOs/NRIs as a whole living throughout the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Most are concentrated in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, and Davao
Davao
Davao refers to several closely related places in Mindanao in the Philippines. The term is used most often to refer to the city.*Davao Region, an administrative region*Davao del Norte province*Davao del Sur province*Davao Oriental province...
, and even in places like Zamboanga
Zamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
, and other major cities and small towns of the named 11 islands.
Indians from Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
also came with the British expedition against Manila
Battle of Manila (1762)
The Battle of Manila was fought during the Seven Years' War , from September 24, 1762 to October 6, 1762, between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain in and around Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at that time.-Prelude:British troops stationed in India were...
that took the city from the Spaniards and occupied Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and the area around Caintâ and Morong
Morong, Bataan
Morong is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 27,119 people in 4,204 households. Subic Bay International Airport is located in this town...
(which is now Rizal
Rizal
Rizal is a province located in the CALABARZON , just 16 kilometers east of Manila. The province was named after the country's national hero, José Rizal. Rizal Governor Casimiro A. Ynares III on June 17, 2008 announced the transfer of the Capitol from Pasig. Its P 270-million capitol building,...
province) between 1762 and 1763. Many of them refused to leave, mutinied, and married local Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
women, which explains why many Filipinos
Filipinos
Filipinos is the brand name for a series of biscuit snacks made by Kraft Foods. In Spain and Portugal they are produced and sold under the Artiach brand name. Under license to United Biscuits, in the Netherlands they are sold and produced locally under the Verkade brand...
around Caintâ, Rizal
Rizal
Rizal is a province located in the CALABARZON , just 16 kilometers east of Manila. The province was named after the country's national hero, José Rizal. Rizal Governor Casimiro A. Ynares III on June 17, 2008 announced the transfer of the Capitol from Pasig. Its P 270-million capitol building,...
are India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n descendants. Many Indians have intermarried with Filipinos, more so than in neighboring countries such as Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, mainly because their populations are largely Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, and Islam doesn't recognized non-Muslim males who marry Muslims. During the 1930s and 1940s, many Indians and Indian Filipinos lived in Filipino provinces, including Davao
Davao
Davao refers to several closely related places in Mindanao in the Philippines. The term is used most often to refer to the city.*Davao Region, an administrative region*Davao del Norte province*Davao del Sur province*Davao Oriental province...
, which at the time had, and still have, many Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
and Japanese Filipinos. When the economy of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
were based in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, many moved there, which explains why today half of the Indian and Indian Filipino community are now based there.
Most of the Indians and Indian Filipinos in the Philippines are Sindhi
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
and Punjabi, but there is also a large Tamil population as well. Many are fluent in Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as well as the local language of the provinces and islands. Many are prosperous middle and higher class with their main occupations in clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
sales and marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
. Sikhs are involved largely in finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, and sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
and marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
. Most of the Indians and Indian Filipinos are Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
, but have assimilated into Filipino culture and some are Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
. There is a main Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
temple in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, and all over the Philippine provinces as well.
Singapore
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n paternal ancestry – form 10% of the country's citizens and permanent residents, making them Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
's third largest ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
. Among cities, Singapore has one of the largest overseas Indian populations.
Although contact with ancient India left a deep cultural impact on Singapore's indigenous Malay
Malays in Singapore
Malays in Singapore are defined by the Singaporean government using the broader and antiquated "Malay race" concept, rather than modern-day Malay ethnic group. Although Malays have inhabited the area that is now Singapore since the 17th century, most of the Malays in Singapore today are immigrants...
society, the mass migration of ethnic Indians to the island only began with the founding of modern Singapore
Founding of modern Singapore
The founding of modern Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles paved the way for Singapore to become a modern port and established its status as a gateway between the Western and Eastern markets....
by the British in 1819. Initially, the Indian population was transient, mainly comprising young men who came as workers, soldiers and convicts. By the mid-20th century, a settled community had emerged, with a more balanced gender ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....
and a better spread of age groups
Demographic profile
A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment...
. Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
is one among the four official languages of Singapore alongside with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
.
Singapore's Indian population is notable for its class stratification
Class stratification
Class stratification is a form of social stratification in which a society tends to divide into separate classes whose members have differential access to resources and power. An economic and cultural rift usually exists between different classes...
, with disproportionately large elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
and lower income groups. This long-standing problem has grown more visible since the 1990s with an influx of both well-educated and unskilled migrants from India, and as part of growing income inequality in Singapore. Indians earn higher incomes than Malays
Malays in Singapore
Malays in Singapore are defined by the Singaporean government using the broader and antiquated "Malay race" concept, rather than modern-day Malay ethnic group. Although Malays have inhabited the area that is now Singapore since the 17th century, most of the Malays in Singapore today are immigrants...
, the other major minority group. Indians are also significantly more likely to hold university degrees than these groups. However, the mainly locally born Indian students in public primary and secondary schools under-perform the national average at major examinations.
Singapore Indians are linguistically and religiously diverse, with ethnic Tamils
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
and nominal Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s forming small majorities. Indian culture has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. By the mid to late 20th century, it had become somewhat distinct from contemporary South Asian cultures, even as Indian elements became diffused within a broader Singaporean culture
Culture of Singapore
Singapore was a part of British Malaya for many centuries. It was ruled by the Sultanate of Johor. In 1819, the British came to the Island and set up a port and colony. During British rule, the port of Singapore flourished and attracted many migrants...
. Since the 1990s, new Indian immigrants have increased the size and complexity of the local Indian population. Together with modern communications like cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, this has connected Singapore with an emerging global Indian culture.
Prominent Indian individuals have long made a mark in Singapore as leaders of various fields in national life. Indians are also collectively well represented, and sometimes over-represented, in areas such as politics
Politics of Singapore
The politics of Singapore takes the form of a parliamentary republic whereby the President of Singapore is the head of state, the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet. Cabinet has the general direction and...
, education
Education in Singapore
Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education , which controls the development and administration of state schools receiving government funding, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools...
, diplomacy
Foreign relations of Singapore
Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with 175 countries although it does not maintain a high commission or embassy in many of those countries. It is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement....
and the law.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty
Chitty
The Chitty are a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca and Singapore , who are also known as the Indian Peranakans. As of today, their population stands at 2,000.-Language:...
, who are the descendants of Tamil traders who had emigrated before 1500 AD, and Chinese and Malay locals. Considering themselves Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
, speaking Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, and practicing Hinduism, the Chittys number about 2000 today. Also there are many Marwaris
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
in Singapore doing business successfully.
Canada
According to Statistics CanadaStatistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
, in 2006 there were 962,665 people who classified themselves as being of Indian origin, including terms of "East Indian", South Asian or Indo-Canadian. In 2001, Sikhs represented 34%, Hindus 27%, Muslims 17% and Christians 16% (7% Protestant/evangelical,9% Catholic) of the total people of Indian origin in Canada. Relatively few people of Indian origin have no religious affiliation. The main Indian ethnic communities are Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
s as well as Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
s, Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
s (Indian as opposed to Sri Lankan), Indo-Caribbeans (numbering approximately 200,000),Kannadigas, Keralites, Bengalis
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
, Sindhis
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
and others.
The first known Indian settlers in Canada were Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
soldiers who had passed through Canada in 1897 on their way back home from attending Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration in London, England. Some are believed to have remained in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and others returned there later. Punjabi Indians were attracted to the possibilities for farming and forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
. They were mainly male Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s who were seeking work opportunities. Indo-Caribbean, descendants of the Indian indentured workers who had gone to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
since 1838, made an early appearance in Canada with the arrival of the Trinidadian medical student Kenneth Mahabir and the Demerara (now Guyana) clerk M.N. Santoo, both in 1908.
The first Indian immigrants in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
allegedly faced widespread racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
from the local white Canadians. Race riots targeted these immigrants, as well as new Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
immigrants. Most decided to return to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, while a few stayed behind. The Canadian government prevented these men from bringing their wives and children until 1919, another reason why many of them chose to leave. Quotas were established to prevent many Indians from moving to Canada in the early 20th century. These quotas allowed fewer than 100 people from India a year until 1957, when the number was increased to 300. In 1967, all quotas were scrapped. Immigration was then based on a point system, thus allowing many more Indians to enter. Since this open-door policy was adopted, Indians continue to come in large numbers, and roughly 25,000-30,000 arrive each year (which now makes Indians the second highest group immigrating to Canada each year, after the Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
).
Most Indians choose to immigrate to larger urban centers like Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, where more than 70 percent live. Smaller communities are also growing in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Indians in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
are from diverse locations in India, such as Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. A place called Little India exists in Vancouver and a section of Gerrard Street (Toronto) in Toronto as well. Indians in Vancouver mainly live in the suburb of Surrey
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
, or nearby Abbotsford
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...
but are also found in other parts of Vancouver. The vast majority of Vancouver Indians are of Sikh origin and have taken significant roles in politics and other professions, with several Supreme Court justices
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, three Attorneys General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
and one provincial premier hailing from the community.
The Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
contains the second largest population of Indian descent in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, enumerating 484,655 residents of Indian origin as of 2006, surpassed only by the 575,541 estimate by the 2007 American Community Survey for the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Combined Statistical Area
Combined Statistical Area
The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
. Note, however, that the Toronto count (but not the New York count) includes individuals of West Indian/Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times...
descent.
Caribbean
From 1838 to 1917, over half a million IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns from the former British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
or British India, were brought to the British West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
as indentured servant
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
s to address the demand for labour following the abolition of slavery
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
. The first two shiploads arrived in British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(now Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
) on May 5, 1838.
The majority of the Indians living in the English-speaking Caribbean
Anglophone Caribbean
The term Commonwealth Caribbean is used to refer to the independent English-speaking countries of the Caribbean region. Upon a country's full independence from the United Kingdom, Anglophone Caribbean or Commonwealth Caribbean traditionally becomes the preferred sub-regional term as a replacement...
came from eastern Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and western Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, while those brought to Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
and Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
were mostly from, but not only, from Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
and Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. A minority emigrated from other parts of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, including present-day Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Other Indo-Caribbean people descend from later migrants, including Indian doctors, Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
businessmen and migrants from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. A vague community of modern-day immigrants from India is to be found on Saint-Martin / Sint Maarten and other islands with duty-free commercial capabilities, where they are active in business.
Indo-Caribbeans are the largest ethnic group in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. They are the second largest group in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
and other countries. There are small populations of them in Bahamas, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, St. Lucia, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
and Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
.
The indentured Indians and their descendants have actively contributed to the evolution of their adopted lands in spite of many difficulties. Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
has always celebrated the arrival of the East Indians in Old Harbour Bay on May 13. In 2003, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
celebrated the 150th anniversary of Indian arrival. Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
did the same in 2004. These celebrations were not the fact of just the Indian minority but the official recognition by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and local authorities of their integration and their wide-scale contribution in various fields from Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
to Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, Politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, and to the diversification of the Creole culture. Thus the noted participation of the whole multi-ethnic population of the two islands in these events.
United States of America
Indian immigration to North America started as early as 1890s. A Sikh-Canadians community has existed in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, for over 100 years. Emigration to the U.S. also started in the late 19th and early 20th century, when Sikhs arriving in Vancouver found that the fact that they were subjects of the British Empire did not mean anything in the Empire (Canada) itself, and they were blatantly discriminated against. Some of these pioneers entered the U.S or landed in Seattle and San Francisco as the ships that carried them from Asia often stopped at these ports. Most of these immigrants were Sikhs from the Punjab regionPunjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
. They were referred to in the U.S. as Hindus (due to a common American misconception that everyone in India was a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and also for want of a term that distinguished these immigrants from Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who were then called Indians).
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
women. A fair number of these families settled down in the Central Valley in California as farmers, and continue to this day. These early immigrants were denied voting rights, family re-unification and citizenship. In 1923 the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that Bhagat Singh Thind, who was a Punjabi Sikh, settled in Oregon, could not be a naturalized citizen of the United States, because he was not a "white person" in the sense intended in...
, ruled that people from India (at the time, British India, e.g. South Asians) were ineligible for citizenship. Thind became a citizen a few years later in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Bhagat Singh Thind
Bhagat Singh Thind
Bhagat Singh Thind, PhD was an Indian American Sikh writer and lecturer on spirituality who was involved in an important legal battle over the rights of Indians to obtain U.S. citizenship....
was a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who settled in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
; he had earlier applied for citizenship and been rejected in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
After World War II, US immigration policy changed to allow family re-unification for people of non-white origin after being banned for almost half a century. In addition, Asians were allowed to become citizens and to vote. A large number of the men who arrived before the 1940s were finally able to bring their families to the US; most of them settled in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and other west coast states.
Another wave of Indian immigrants entered the U.S. in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. A large proportion of them were Sikhs joining their family members under the new more (though not completely) color-blind immigration laws, and professionals or students that came from all over India. The Cold War created a need for engineers in the defense and aerospace industries, many of whom came from India. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marwaris
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
, Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
and South Indian Telugu people
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
settled in the U.S. . Overall Telugus, Marwaris
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
, Gujaratis, and Punjabis are the most prominent groups of Indian origin. The most recent and probably the largest wave of immigration to date occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000 during the internet boom. As a result, Indians in the U.S. are now one of the largest among the groups of Indian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
with an estimated population of about 2.7 million. In contrast to the earliest groups of Indians who entered the US workforce as taxi drivers, laborers, farmers or small business owners, the later arrivals often came as professionals or completed graduate study here and moved into the professions. They have become very successful financially thanks to the hi-tech industry, and are thus probably the most well-off community of immigrants. They are well represented in all walks of life, but particularly so in academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. There were over 4,000 PIO professors and 84,000 Indian-born students in American universities in 2007-08. The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin boasts a membership of 35,000. In 2000, Fortune magazine
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
entrepreneurs at around $250 billion. The combined wealth of the non-resident Indian community is estimated to be over 1 trillion dollars according to a report by the High-Powered expert committee appointed by the center.http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=85477
Though currently the Indian diaspora in the US is largely concentrated in metropolitan areas such as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(with the largest Indian American population, enumerating 575,541 individuals according to 2007 American Community Survey estimates by the U.S. Census) - as well as Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and San Francisco - almost every metropolitan area in the US has a community of Indians.
United Kingdom
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
proportionally, and the second largest in terms of population, only surpassed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and closely followed by Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The first wave of Indians in the United Kingdom worked as manual labourers and were not respected within society. However, this has changed considerably. Third and fourth generation immigrants are on the whole proving to be very successful, especially in the fields of law, business and medecine. Despite only making up 3% of the population, Indians account for 45% of students at private schools, demonstrating the financial prosperity enjoyed by many of the immigrants.
Indian culture has been constantly referenced within the wider British culture, at first as an "exotic" influence in films like My Beautiful Laundrette
My Beautiful Laundrette
My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The story is set in London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as shown through the complex—and often comical—relationships...
, but now increasingly as a familiar feature in films like Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
.
According to the April 2001 UK National Census,
There are 1,051,800 people of Indian origin in the UK. The main ethnic groups are Marwaris, Tamils, Panjabis, Gujaratis, Bengalis and Anglo-Indians. Hindus comprise 45% of the population, Sikhs 29%, Muslims 13%, Christians nearly 5%, with the remainder made up of Jains (15,000), Parsis (Zoroastrians), Buddhists and those who stated no religion. 2005 estimates state 2.41% of England's population as being Indian (not including mixed race), which would be around 1,215,400 (see Demographics of England). Following the continuous trend (including those of mixed Indian ancestry), in 2008 there are likely to be well over 1,600,000 Indian people in the UK. Some are Atheist (<1%).
Most Indians in the United Kingdom have settled in London, the Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and the South East. Their presence in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other regions is not as large. The first generation of immigrants were to be found in the east-end of London which, traditionally was the poorest area in London. However, due to gentrification, this is no longer the case.
There are 2,360,000 people currently speaking Indian languages in the United Kingdom.
Middle East
There is a huge population of Indians in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, most coming from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and other south Indian states, especially in the oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
rich countries neighboring the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. Most moved to the Gulf after the oil boom
Oil boom
An oil boom is a boom in the oil producing sector of an economy. Generally, this short period initially brings economical benefits, in term of increased GDP growth, but might later lead to a resource curse.-Consequences:...
to work as engineers, doctors, lawyers,labourers and for clerical jobs. Indians – all foreigners, in fact – in the Gulf do not normally become citizens however. They retain their Indian passports since most of the countries in the Gulf do not provide citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
or permanent residency. One of the major reasons why Indians like to work in the Gulf is because it provides incomes many times over for the same type of job back in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and its geographical proximity to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The Indian Diaspora makes up a good proportion of the working class in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In 2005, about 40% of the population in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
were of Indian descent.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states include Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
and Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
. NRI population in these GCC countries is estimated to be around 6,000,000 (2006–2007), of which over 1,500,000 stay in the UAE. Majority of them originate from Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
. NRI population tends to save and remit considerable amount to their dependents in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is estimated such remittances may be over USD 10 billion per annum (including remittances by formal and informal channels in 2005-2006). (Source: Research by S.Kadwe, 2007).
Israel
The Bene IsraelBene Israel
The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's...
' onMouseout='HidePop("40153")' href="/topics/Marathi_language">Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
:बेने इस्राएल) are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n cities, primarily Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, but also to Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, and Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
. In the second half of the 20th Century most of them emigrated to Israel
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
, where they now number about 60,000. The native language of the Bene Israel is Judæo-Marathi
Judæo-Marathi
Judæo-Marathi is a form of Marathi spoken by the Bene Israel, a Jewish ethnic group that developed a unique identity in India and in Pakistan. Judæo-Marathi is, like other Marathi, written in the Devanagari script...
, a form of Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
.
Another group of Indians to arrive in Israel belong to the Bnei Menashe
Bnei Menashe
The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The claim appeared after a Pentecostalist dreamt in 1951 that his people's pre-Christian religion was Judaism and that...
("Children of Menasseh
Tribe of Manasseh
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....
", Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
בני מנשה) a group of more than 9,000 people from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's North-Eastern border states
Seven Sister States
The Seven Sister States also called "Paradise Unexplored" is a name given to the contiguous states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura in northeastern India. These states cover an area of about 250,000 sq. km. or about 7 percent of India's total area. They...
of Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
and Mizoram
Mizoram
Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...
, who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel
Ten Lost Tribes
The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to those tribes of ancient Israel that formed the Kingdom of Israel and which disappeared from Biblical and all other historical accounts after the kingdom was destroyed in about 720 BC by ancient Assyria...
, and of whom about 1,700 now live in Israel (some of them in Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
s on the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
). Linguistically, Bnei Menashe are Tibeto-Burmans
Tibeto-Burman languages
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Chinese members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken thoughout the highlands of southeast Asia, as well as lowland areas in Burma ....
and belong to the Mizo, Kuki
Kuki people
The Kukis are an ethnic group that spread throughout the Northeastern region of India, Northwest Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. In Northeast India they are present in all the states except Arunachal Pradesh. This dispersal across international borders is mainly attributed to the...
and Chin people
Chin people
The Chin , known as the Kuki in Assam, are one of the ethnic groups in Burma. The Chins are found mainly in western part of Burma and numbered circa 1.5 million. They also live in nearby Indian states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and Assam. Owing to Mizo influence and Baptist missionaries'...
s (the terms are virtually interchangeable). The move to convert them to Judaism and bring them to Israel is politically controversial in both India and Israel.
Australia
As of 2009 it is estimated that there are over 405,000 Australians of Indian origin of which 308,542 are born in India.It is said that the first Indian had come to Australia as part of Captain Cook's ship. Before roads and road transport were developed, many Indians had come to Australia to run camel trains. They would transport goods and mail via camel in the desert. Some of the earliest Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
arrivals in Australia included Kareem Bux who came as a hawker to Bendigo in 1893, Sardar Beer Singh Johal who came in 1895 and Sardar Narain Singh Heyer who arrived in 1898. Many Punjabis
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
took part in the rush for gold on the Victorian fields.
Indians also entered Australia in the first half of the 20th century when both Australia and India were still British colonies. Indian Sikhs came to work on the banana plantations in Southern Queensland. Today a large number of them live in the town of Woolgoolga (a town lying roughly half-way between Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
). Some of these Indians, the descendants of Sikh plantation workers, now own banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s in the area. There are two Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
temples in Woolgoolga. One of which even has a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
dedicated to Sikhism. A large number of Briton
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
s and Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
s born in India migrated to Australia after 1947. These British citizens decided to settle in Australia in large numbers but are still counted as 'Indian' Nationals in the census. The third wave of Indians entered the country in the 1980s, after the demise of the white Australia policy
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
. After the policy was abolished many Indian teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s and doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
settled in Australia. Another big influx began with the IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
revolution. Large numbers of Indian software professionals arrived in Australia from 1976 onwards. After successive military coups in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
of 1987 and 2000 a significant number of Fijian-Indians migrated to Australia as such there is a large Fijian-Indian population in Australia. Fijian-Indians have significantly changed the character of the Indian community in Australia. While most earlier Indian migration was by educated professionals, the Fijian-Indian community was also largely by professionals but also brought many small business owners and entrepreneurs.
The current wave of Indian migration is that of engineers, tool-makers, Gujarati business families from East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and relatives of settled Indians. Starved of government funding, Australian education institutes are recruiting full fee paying overseas students. Many universities have permanent representatives stationed in India and other Asian countries. Their efforts have been rewarded and a new influx of Indian students entering Australia. The total number of student visas granted to Indian students for 2006-2007 were 34,136; a significant rise from 2002 to 2003 when 7,603 student visa's were granted Indian students.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 87% of Indians residing in Australia are aged under 50 and over 83% of the population are proficient in English. Many in the community are Hindu and Sikh, while there are also smaller number of Christians and Muslims.
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in the late eighteenth century, mostly as crews on British ships. A small number deserted; the earliest known Indian resident of New Zealand was living with a Māori wife in the Bay of Islands in 1815. Numbers slowly increased through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, despite a law change in 1899 which was designed to keep out people who were not of 'British birth and parentage'. As in many other countries, Indians in New Zealand dispersed throughout the country and had a high rate of small business ownership, particularly fruit and vegetable shops and convenience stores. At this stage most Indian New Zealanders originated from Gujarat. Changes in immigration policy in the 1980s allowed many more India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis into the country, and the 1987 and 2000 military coups in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
caused a large increase in the number of Fijian Indians coming to New Zealand. Notable Indian New Zealanders include former Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
mayor Sukhi Turner
Sukhi Turner
Dame Sukhinder "Sukhi" Kaur Gill Turner, DNZM was the Mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand, from 1995 until her retirement from the position in 2004. She was notable as the first Green Party mayor in New Zealand...
, cricketer Dipak Patel
Dipak Patel
Dipak Narshibhai Patel played 37 Tests and 75 One Day Internationals for the New Zealand cricket team....
, singer Aaradhna
Aaradhna
Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel , better known by her stage name Aaradhna, is a New Zealand-award winning, R&B/pop recording artist, writer and record producer, signed under the music label Dawn Raid Entertainment...
, and former Governor General Anand Satyanand
Anand Satyanand
Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ was the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand. He previously worked as a lawyer, judge and ombudsman.-Early life and family:...
.
Statistics
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area... |
2,800,000+ | ||
 South Africa |
Indian South Africans Indian South Africans Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'. Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India during late 19th-century through early... |
1,300,000 | 2.7% |
 Mauritius |
Indo-Mauritian Indo-Mauritian Indo-Mauritians are people of Indian descent living on the island of Mauritius, where they represent a majority comprising 68% of the population according to the July 2007 statistics... |
855,000 | 68.3% |
 Réunion (FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
Réunionnais of Indian origin (Malbars Malbars Malbars are an ethnic group of Tamil origin in Réunion, a French island in the Southwest Indian Ocean, estimated to number 180,000. There are no official figures because the French government does not collect census data on ethnic groups.... ) |
220,000 | 28% |
 Kenya |
Indians in Kenya Indians in Kenya There are currently over 100,000 Indians in Kenya, most living in the major urban areas of Nairobi and Mombasa with others living in rural areas. Most are Hindus and with some Muslims, often with their own businesses and places of worship... |
100,000 | 0.3% |
 Tanzania |
Indians in Tanzania Indians in Tanzania There are currently over 90,000 people of Indian origin in Tanzania. Many of them are traders and they control a sizeable portion of the Tanzanian economy. Indians have a long history in Tanzania starting with the arrival of Gujarati traders in the 19th century. They came to gradually control the... |
90,000 | 0.2% |
 Uganda |
Indians in Uganda Indians in Uganda There are currently over 12,000 people of Indian origin living in Uganda, but this is a far cry from their heyday. In the late 1890s, over 30,000 Indians, mostly Sikhs, were brought on 3 year contracts to build the Uganda Railway from Mombasa to Kisumu by 1901, and to Kampala by 1931. Some died,... |
90,000 | 0.3% |
 Madagascar |
Indians in Madagascar Indians in Madagascar Indians in Madagascar form a community of roughly 25,000 individuals according to the statistics of India's Ministry of External Affairs; other estimates of their population range from 15,000 to 30,000. Among them are 867 non-resident Indians, with the rest being locally-born descendants of early... |
28,000 | 0.15% |
 Nigeria |
25,000 | 0.02% | |
 Mozambique |
Indians in Mozambique Indians in Mozambique Indians in Mozambique form the sixth-largest Indian diaspora community in Africa, according to the statistics of India's Ministry of External Affairs. Roughly 40,000 people of Indian descent reside in Mozambique, as well as 870 Indian expatriates.-Origins:... |
21,000 | 0.1% |
 Libya |
20,000 | 0.34% | |
 Zimbabwe |
Indians in Zimbabwe Indians in Zimbabwe There are currently over 10,000 Indians in Zimbabwe, mostly as businessmen. Indians started arriving at the end of the 19th century when the territory was still known as Southern Rhodesia. Their further immigration were restricted after 1923 when the colony became a self-administered territory of... |
16,000 | 0.1% |
 Botswana |
Indians in Botswana Indians in Botswana Indians in Botswana do not form a very large population. There are 3,000 PIOs and 6,000 NRIs in Botswana.-History:A few Indian families from South Africa migrated to Botswana in the beginning of the 20th century. Initially engaged in general trading, they gradually built up big businesses by... |
9,000 | 0.5% |
 Zambia |
Indians in Zambia Indians in Zambia There is a small community of Indians in Zambia. Unlike the better-known Indian communities of East Africa, they were little-studied by historians until the 2000s.-Migration history:... |
6,000 | 0.05% |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo |
6,000 | 0.04% | |
 Seychelles |
Indo-Seychellois Indo-Seychellois -Origins:They were brought in as indentured labourers. The majority were Hindus from North India; Tamil and Telugus from South India and Muslims form the remainder of the population.-Demographic Factors:... |
5,000 | 6.2% |
 Ghana |
3,800 | 0.017% | |
 Eritrea |
1,753 | 0.04% | |
 Côte d'Ivoire |
300 | 0.0017% | |
 Namibia |
110 | 0.005% | |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population... |
9,800,000+ | ||
 Nepal |
Nepalese people of Indian ancestry Nepalese people of Indian ancestry There is a large number of Nepalese people of Indian ancestry, consisting of the descendants of early migrants from the India to Nepal. There are currently about 4 million people of Indian origin living in Nepal making it home to the largest Indian community outside of India.-History:Many... |
4,000,000 | 14.7% |
 Malaysia |
Malaysian Indian (Chitty Chitty The Chitty are a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca and Singapore , who are also known as the Indian Peranakans. As of today, their population stands at 2,000.-Language:... Tamils Tamil Malaysians Tamil Malaysian or Malaysian Tamil refer to the Malaysians of Tamil ethnic origin from India and Sri Lanka in Malaysia. They make up over 70% of the Indian Malaysian population group in Malaysia... ) |
2,400,000 | 8.7% |
 Myanmar |
Burmese Indians Burmese Indians Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian subcontinental ethnicity who live in Myanmar . While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid 19th century to the... Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent... |
2,000,000 | 4.2% |
 Sri Lanka |
Indians in Sri Lanka (Tamils) | 850,000 | 4.4% |
 Singapore |
Indians in Singapore | 320,000 | 6.6% |
 Indonesia |
Indians in Indonesia | 120,000 | 0.05% |
 Thailand |
Indians in Thailand Indians in Thailand There are about 65,000 persons of Indian origin settled in Thailand mainly in the cities.-Migration history:Many of them arrived in the last century, notably from Punjab and some from Gujarat. A Tamil community has been around since the 1861s... |
65,000 | 0.1% |
 Philippines |
Indian settlement in the Philippines | 38,000 | 0.04% |
 Mainland China |
Indians in China Indians in China Indians in China consist of migrants from India to the People's Republic of China and their descendants. A large majority of them live in Hong Kong while there are smaller populations living in other parts of China.... (Hong Kong Indians in Hong Kong Hong Kong has been the place of settlement for many Indians for a long time. Some of them have lived there for a few generations and considered Hong Kong as their home. In the pre-war period, there were almost 7,000 Indians in Hong Kong... ) |
Mainland China: 25,000 Hong Kong: 20,444 |
0.0019% 0.3% |
 Japan |
Indians in Japan Indians in Japan Indians in Japan consist of migrants from India to Japan and their descendants. , there were 22,335 Indian nationals living in Japan. Roughly 60% consist of expatriate IT professionals and their families.-Migration history:... |
22,335 | 0.02% |
 Maldives |
Indians in Maldives Indians in Maldives Approximately 9,000 Indians live and work in the Maldives. They comprise teachers, managers, doctors, engineers, accountants and other professionals. Besides them, there are skilled and unskilled personnel such as technicians, masons, tailors, plumbers, and other labourers. A sizeable proportion... |
9,000 | 3.1% |
 Brunei |
7,600 | 2% | |
 South Korea North Korea |
Indians in Korea Indians in Korea Indians in Korea consist of migrants from India to Korea and their locally born descendants. A majority of them live in Seoul while there are smaller populations living in other parts of Korea.-Ancient history:... |
7,000 5 |
0.014% 0.00000021% |
 Bhutan |
1,500 | 0.07% | |
 Kazakhstan |
1,200 | 0.08% | |
 Afghanistan |
Indians in Afghanistan Indians in Afghanistan Indians in Afghanistan currently consist of those working in various construction projects, as part of India's rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan although the Indian intelligence agency RAW is widely quoted to be working in cover to malign Pakistan and train & support insurgents. These workers are... |
1,000 | 0.003% |
 Uzbekistan |
700 | 0.003% | |
 Turkmenistan |
700 | 0.014% | |
 Vietnam |
Indians in Vietnam Indians in Vietnam , there were about 1,000 persons of Indian origin settled in Vietnam, mainly in Ho Chi Minh City. Prior to the Vietnam War, there was a vibrant Indian community, primarily Tamils and specifically Chettiars. The community still maintains a Hindu temple in Ho Chi Minh City, the Sri Mariamman temple... |
1000 | 0.0011% |
 Cambodia |
Indians in Cambodia Indians in Cambodia There is a small community of Indians in Cambodia mainly expatriates and immigrants from India. It is estimated that there are about 1,200 to 1,500 Indians living in Cambodia, one-third of whom are in the capital, Phnom Penh.-History:... |
1500 | 0.01% |
 Laos |
125 | 0.002% | |
 Kyrgyzstan |
100 | 0.002% | |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| Middle East Middle East The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East... |
4,200,000+ | ||
 Saudi Arabia |
Indians in Saudi Arabia Indians in Saudi Arabia There is a huge population of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia, numbering over 1,500,000 as of the year 2000 and constituting at least 7% of the country's total population... |
1,900,000 | 6.1% |
 United Arab Emirates |
Indians in the United Arab Emirates Indians in the United Arab Emirates Indians in the United Arab Emirates constitute a large part of population of the country. Over a million Indian migrants are estimated to be living in the UAE , who form over 40% of the total population of the UAE. A majority of Indians live in the three largest cities of the UAE — Dubai,... |
1,300,000 | 31.7% |
 Kuwait |
Indians in Kuwait Indians in Kuwait The community of Indians in Kuwait includes Indian expatriates in Kuwait, as well as Kuwaiti citizens of Indian origin or descent. According to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, there are 579,058 Indians as on July 1, 2008, who constitute the largest expatriate community in Kuwait.-Overview:Some... |
580,000 | 21.6% |
 Oman |
Indians in Oman Indians in Oman The community of Indians in Oman includes Indian expatriates in Oman, as well as Omani citizens of Indian origin or descent.-History:Although Indian migration to Oman is apparently for the purpose of spreading their commercial activities and mutually sharing the profits, their mutual good relations... |
450,000 | 17.5% |
 Bahrain |
150,000 | 19% | |
 Qatar |
Indians in Qatar Indians in Qatar The community of Indians in Qatar includes Indian expatriates in Qatar, as well as Qatari citizens of Indian origin or descent. According to the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, the Indian population in the country has gone beyond 500,000.-Overview:With the economic boom being... |
125,000 | 15.7% |
 Israel |
Indians in Israel Indians in Israel Indians in Israel almost exclusively consist of Indian Jews who migrated to Israel upon the formation of the modern state of Israel in 1948. There are now an estimated 85,000 Indians who live in Israel. They are primarily Cochin Jews and Paradesi Jews of Kerala, Bene Israel of Maharashtra and... |
45,000 | 0.7% |
 Lebanon |
Indians in Lebanon Indians in Lebanon There is a community of Indians in Lebanon consisting mainly of laborers and expatriates from India. There are about 12,000 Indians in Lebanon. The Indian migrants work in various sectors of Lebanese economy such as construction, manufacturing and the service sector... |
11,000 | 0.27% |
 Yemen |
9,000 | 0.04% | |
 Syria |
1,800 | 0.009% | |
 Iran |
Indians in Iran Indians in Iran Relations between India and Iran have been traditionally very close. There have been many movements of people overland between these two countries, the most prominent is the Zoroastrian community's migration to western India due to their fear of spread of the message of Islam.Between the late 19th... |
800 | 0.001% |
 Turkey |
Indians in Turkey Indians in Turkey Indians in Turkey are a small community numbering 300 and comprising roughly 100 families. Most of them are working as doctors and computer engineers or employees in multinational corporations... |
300 | 0.0004% |
 Cyprus |
Indians in Cyprus Indians in Cyprus The community of Indians in Cyprus includes Indian expatriates in Cyprus, as well as Cypriot citizens of Indian origin or descent. Even though Cyprus has a much smaller community of Indians compared to other western countries, the community boasts of a over 2000 Indians primarily in the field of... |
300 | 0.24% |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
1,768,834+ | ||
 United Kingdom |
British Indian British Indian The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK... |
1,053,411 (2001) England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... 1,414,100 (2009) Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... 20,100 (2009) Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... 17,000 (2001) Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... 1,600 (2001) |
1.8% 2.7% 0.7% 0.3% 0.1% |
 Netherlands |
Hindoestanen Hindoestanen The Hindoestanen are an ethnic group of South Asian origin in the Netherlands and Suriname. After the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers, the Hindoestanen began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured... |
123,000 | 0.7% |
 Italy |
Indians in Italy | 150,000 | 0.25% |
 Portugal |
Indians in Portugal | 70,000 | 0.7% |
 Early Modern France |
Indian diaspora in France | 65,000 | 0.1% |
 Russia |
Indians in Russia Indians in Russia The community of Indians in Russia includes Indian expatriates in Russia, as well as Russian citizens of Indian origin or descent.-Migration History:... |
40,000 | 0.01% |
 Germany |
Indians in Germany | 97,000 | 0.04% |
 Spain |
Indian community of Spain | 29,000 | 0.07% |
 Switzerland |
13,500 | 0.2% | |
 Austria |
11,945 | 0.15% | |
 Sweden |
11,000 | 0.1% | |
 Belgium |
Indians in Belgium Indians in Belgium There are about 7,000 persons of Indian origin residing in Belgium.Indians are employed mainly in the software and diamond industries as well as other local industries in major cities... |
7,000 | 0.07% |
 Greece |
7,000 | 0.06% | |
 Norway |
5,630 | 0.1% | |
 Denmark |
5,500 | 0.1% | |
 Ukraine |
3,500 | 0.007% | |
 Republic of Ireland |
1,600 | 0.04% | |
 Kingdom of Romania |
1,200 | 0.0055% | |
 Finland |
Indians in Finland Indians in Finland There is a small community of Indians in Finland consisting mainly of Finnish citizens of Indian origin or descent as well as expatriates from India.-Overview:... |
1,170 | 0.02% |
 Poland |
Indians in Poland Indians in Poland The Indian community in Poland consist of migrants from India to Poland and their locally born descendants. There are approximately 3,500 Indians in Poland.-Migration History:... |
2,000 | 0.005% |
 Slovakia |
100 | 0.002% | |
 Lithuania |
100 | 0.003% | |
 Kingdom of Bulgaria |
20 | 0.0003% | |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... |
5,100,000+ | ||
 United States |
Indian American Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:... |
2,843,391 | 0.9% |
 Canada |
Indo-Canadian (Tamil Canadians) | 962,665 | 2.9% |
 Jamaica |
Indo-Jamaican Indo-Jamaican The Hindustani community of Jamaica, popularly known as Indo-Jamaicans or Indian Jamaicans, are primarily the descendents of indentured workers of India who are citizens or nationals of Jamaica... |
90,000 | 3.4% |
 Guadeloupe (FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
Indo-Guadeloupean Indians in Guadeloupe Tamils in Guadeloupe are mostly descended from indentured workers who came from Tamil Nadu in the late 19th century. There are currently about 55,000 people of Indian origin living in Guadeloupe making it home to one of the largest Indian communities in Latin America.-History:Tamils in Guadeloupe... |
55,000 | 13.6% |
 Cuba |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... Asian Latin American |
34,000 | 0.3% |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
21,500 | 19.7% |
 Grenada |
Indo-Grenadians Indo-Grenadians Indo-Grenadians, or Grenadians who trace their roots to India, form the largest minority group in Grenada. This group was first introduced during the second half of the 19th century when Grenada experimented with indentured labour. By the second half of the 20th century Indians were so integrated... |
12,000 | 11.7% |
 Martinique (FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
Indo-Martiniquais Indo-Martiniquais Indo-Martiniquais are residents of the French Overseas Department of Martinique who have Indian descent. A majority are descendants of indentured labourers from India who were brought to the island in the nineteenth century... |
43,600 | 10% |
 Saint Lucia |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
4,700 | 2.8% |
 Puerto Rico (United StatesUnited States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... ) |
Asian Latin AmericanIndo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
4,500 | 0.1% |
 Barbados |
Indians in Barbados Indians in Barbados There is 3,000-strong Indian community in Barbados, or Indo-Bajans as they are know. Unlike many other Caribbean nations, none originated as indentured workers from India. The majority are descendants of traders and most recently immigrants from Guyana.... |
2,200 | 0.8% |
 Mexico |
Indian immigration to Mexico Indian immigration to Mexico There is a small community of Indians in Mexico consisting mainly of immigrants from India as well as their locally born descendants. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, there are about 2000 Indians living in Mexico as of March 2011.... |
2,000 | 0.0004% |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
1,100 | 2.6% |
 Netherlands Antilles (NetherlandsNetherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... ) |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
600 | 0.3% |
 Belize |
Indians in Belize Indians in Belize Asian Indians comprise approximately 2% of the population and began arriving in Belize in the 1880s. Initially coming in as indentured, many of them stayed on to work the sugar plantations and were joined by other Indian immigrants. Indians are spread out over many villages and towns primarily in... |
500 | 0.2% |
 Antigua and Barbuda |
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times... |
300 | 0.4% |
 Haiti |
Indo-Haitian Indo-Haitian Indo-Haitians are Haitians of Indian ancestry who immigrated to or born in Haiti. As of 2011, there are about 200 people of Indian descent living in Haiti.-Overview:... |
200 | 0.4% |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| South America South America South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east... |
510,000+ | ||
 Trinidad and Tobago |
Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian | 525,000 | 40.2% |
 Guyana |
Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese are mostly descendants of indentured labourers from India who are citizens or nationals of Guyana. They are often referred to as Indians or East Indians... |
327,000 | 43.5% |
 Suriname |
Indo-Surinamese Hindoestanen The Hindoestanen are an ethnic group of South Asian origin in the Netherlands and Suriname. After the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers, the Hindoestanen began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured... |
135,000 | 27.4% |
 Panama |
Indians in Panama Indians in Panama There are an estimated 15,000 people of Indian origin in Panama. They are employed in the shipping industry while others are mainly engaged in commerce. A majority are Hindu with a substantial Muslim minority and they maintain temples and mosques in Panama City and Colón.Panama's Indian community... |
20,000 | 0.3% |
 Brazil |
Indian immigration to Brazil | 1,900 | 0.001% |
 Argentina |
Indians in Argentina Indians in Argentina There is a small community of Indians in Argentina consisting mainly of immigrants from India as well as their locally born citizens. There are currently 1,600 people of Indian origin living in the country.-History:... |
1,600 | 0.004% |
 Chile |
Indians in Chile Indians in Chile Indians in Chile form one of the smaller populations of the Indian diaspora. A few Indians had gone to Chile in the 1920s. Later more Indians migrated there about 30 years ago - not only from India, but also from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines and Singapore.-History:Some... |
1,400 | 0.004% |
 Venezuela |
Indians in Venezuela Indians in Venezuela Indians in Venezuela form one of the smaller populations of the Indian diaspora. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs , among the approximately 690 East Indians living in Venezuela, 400 were Venezuelans of East Indian origin, 280 were Indian citizens, and 10 were stateless... |
690 | 0.0026% |
 Peru |
Asian Latin American | 145 | 0.0005% |
 Uruguay |
Indians in Uruguay Indians in Uruguay Indians in Uruguay form a small expatriate community consisting mostly of businessmen, Indian employees of TCS and some Catholic nuns.-Overview:... |
90-100 | 0.001% |
 Colombia |
Asian Latin American | 20 | 0.00004% |
| Continent / country | Articles | Overseas Indian population | Percentage of local population |
| Oceania Oceania Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago... |
850,000+ | ||
 Fiji |
Indians in Fiji Indians in Fiji Indo-Fijians are Fijians whose ancestors came from India and various parts of South Asia, South-East Asia and Asia itself. They number 313,798 out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji... |
340,000 | 40.1% |
 Australia |
Indian Australian Indian Australian An Indian Australian is an Australian of Indian heritage. They include both those who are Australian by birth, and increasingly, those born in India or elsewhere in the Indian diaspora... |
405,000+ | 2.0% |
 New Zealand |
Indian New Zealander | 105,000 | 2.6% |
| Total overseas Indian population | ~24,000,000 | ||
Further reading
- HAQUE, Shahzaman (2010b) "Enjeux des politiques linguistiques: pratiques et comportements langagiers mutilingues dans un pays monolingue". In: M.Iliescu, H. Siller-Runggaldier, P. Danler (éds.) Actes du XXVe Congrès International de Linguistique et de Philologie Romanes, Innsbruck 2007, Tome I. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 163-172. Available at http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/9783110231922.1-163
- HAQUE, Shahzaman (2010a) "Place des langues natives et d'accueil chez trois familles migrantes indiennes en Europe". In Andrea Rocci, Alexandre Duchêne, Aleksandra Gnach & Daniel Stotz (Eds.) Bulletin Suisse de Linguistique Appliquée, printemps 2010: Sociétés en mutations: les défis méthodologiques de la linguistique appliquée. Numéro Spécial, 2010/1, 225-236
- HAQUE, Shahzaman (2008) 2008 "Différences de politiques linguisitiques entre nation et famille: Etude de cas de trois familles indiennes migrantes dans trois pays d'Europe". In: Suvremena Lingvistika Vol. 34 (65), 57-72. Available at http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=61116&lang=en
- LAKHA, Salim & STEVENSON, Michael (2001) "Indian Identity in Multicultural Melbourne. Some preliminary observations. Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3, 245-262.
- MEARNS, D.T. (1995) "Shiva's other children. Religion and social identity amongst overseas Indians. New Delhi: Sage.
External links
- Faq's Share Trading Everything about Faqs Share Trading for NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs
- Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre A not-for-profit public private initiative between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- Indian Diaspora, Official Government of India Website
- Indian Diaspora; The National Portal of Government of India
- Non resident Indian taxation services
- Indian diaspora in New Zealand, A bibliography of published sources
- NRI Madhya Pradesh, Official Government Website