America the land of the free , land of the brave, land of dreams, and the nation of immigrants.“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” - Marcus Garvey. February marks the celebration of African History month which is a remembrance of important people and events of the African diaspora.<o:p></o:p>
Today's 35 million African Americans are heirs to all the migrations that have formed and transformed African America, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere. They are the offspring of diverse African ethnicities who also include in their genetic makeup Europeans, Native Americans, and Asians. They represent the most diverse population in the United States, a population that has embraced its varied heritages created by millions of men and women constantly on the move, looking for better opportunities, starting over, paving the way, and making sacrifices for future generations.<o:p></o:p>
Emigrants were not only pushed out of their countries, they were also pulled to the United States. A number of favorable immigration policies enabled them to make the journey in much greater numbers than before. Tens of thousands of political refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea, living under a Marxist regime, were allowed entry in the mid-1980s, and when the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 legalized the status of eligible illegal aliens, more than 31,000 Africans applied. In addition, the Immigration Act of 1990 established a lottery system that favors underrepresented nations, a category that includes all the African countries. Since 1995, an average of 40,000 African immigrants have entered the country legally every year, but the number increased to more than 60,000 in 2002.
Regions in Africa<o:p></o:p>
Eastern Africa includes British Indian Ocean Territory, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mayotte, Mozambique, Reunion Rwanda, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Tromelin Island, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Middle Africa includes Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome & Principe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire).
Northern Africa includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.
Southern Africa includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland.
Western Africa includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, St Helena, Togo<o:p></o:p>
The number of African immigrants in the United States grew 40-fold between 1960 and 2007, from 35,355 to 1.4 million. Most of this growth has taken place since 1990. <o:p></o:p>
The top individual countries of origin of the African born are Nigeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia. In the United States, Africans are concentrated in New York, California, Texas, Maryland, and Virginia<o:p></o:p>
About one-third (35.6 percent, or 505,619) African immigrants in the United States are from West Africa (see sidebar and map for definitions of the regions). There are also large numbers of East Africans (27.2 percent, or 386,225) in the United States.
North Africans accounted for 19.4 percent (274,951) of African immigrants in the United States in 2007, followed by Southern Africans (5.7 percent, or 81,595) and Middle Africans (3.9 percent, or 56,056).
Compared to other immigrants, the African born tend to be highly educated and speak English well. In fact almost half have bachelor's or advanced degrees, compared to 23 percent of native-born Americans. Contrary to popular belief, the most substantial part of African emigration is thus directly linked to the "brain drain," not to poverty. Actually, 98 percent are high school graduates.
Sources<o:p></o:p>
US Census Bureau. 2006 American Community Survey. Accessed from Steven Ruggles, Matthew Sobek, Trent Alexander, et al., Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 3.0. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Population Center, 2004.
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US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. 2007 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, various tables.<o:p></o:p>
