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Sri Lankan Americans

Sri Lankan Americans (Sinhala: Sri Lankika Amerikanu, Tamil: Ilangkaī Amerikan) are Americans of full or partial Sri Lankan ancestry. Sri Lankan Americans are persons of Sri Lankan origin from various Sri Lankan ethnic backgrounds. The people are classified as South Asian in origin.

History[edit]

Sri Lankans started arriving in the U.S. in larger numbers around the mid 1950s, but there is evidence from U.S. census records which proves that Sri Lankans first emigrated from Ceylon and arrived in the United States in earlier years, mostly between the 1880s and the 1890s.


In 1975, Sri Lankan immigrants were classified as belonging to a category which was separate from "other Asian" for the first time. In that year, 432 Sri Lankans entered the United States.


According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's records, in 1996, 1,277 Sri Lankans were naturalized. This included 615 who had arrived in 1995 and 254 who had arrived in 1994, compared with only 68 arrivals in 1993 and 17 before 1985.


The number increased to 14,448 in the 1990s in conjunction with the Sri Lankan Civil War. Sri Lankan Americans settled largely in cities.[6]

Socioeconomics[edit]

Sri Lankan Americans are generally educated and affluent. With a median income of $74,000, Sri Lankan Americans are the third most successful Asian American group (tied with Japanese Americans) in regards to income. Additionally, 57% of Sri Lankan Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or more.[17]

Association of Sri Lankans in America (AHRCL)

Friends of Sri Lanka in the United States

Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC)

Sri Lanka Association of New England (SLANE)

[18]

Sri Lanka Foundation

[19]

Sri Lankan American Association of Houston

[20]

Sri Lankan American Cultural Association (SLACA)

[21]

Sri Lankan Youth Organization (SLYO)

[22]

The Association of Sri Lankan Muslims in North America (TASMiNA)

[23]

Minnesota Buddhist Vihara

Mahamevnawa Buddhist Meditation Center of New York

American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka

Asian Americans

Sri Lankan diaspora

Sri Lanka–United States relations

Sri Lankan Americans

US Census 2000 foreign born population by country

Sri Lanka: Background and U.S. Relations