Demographics of Houston
Encyclopedia
This article on the demographics of Houston contains information on population characteristics of Houston, Texas
, including household
s, family status
, age
, gender
, income
, race and ethnicity.
As of the census
of 2000, there were 1,953,631 people, 717,945 households, and 457,330 families residing in the city. The population density
was 3,371.7 people per square mile (1,301.8/km²). There were 782,009 housing units at an average density of 1,349.6 per square mile (521.1/km²). If the city of Houston were a U.S. state, it would rank 36th in population—its 2.01 million residents in 2004 would place it behind Nevada
and ahead of New Mexico
. In 2005, the Greater Houston area had a population over 5.7 million.
There were 717,945 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples
living together, 15.3% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. Twenty-nine percent of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.39. The median house price was $115,961 in 2009.
In the city, the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,616, and the median income for a family was $40,443. Males had a median income of $32,084 versus $27,371 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,101. Nineteen percent of the population and 16% of families were below the poverty line
. Out of the total population, 26.1% of those under the age of 18 and 14.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
As of 2002, 38,000 people living in Houston also live in Fort Bend County; this makes Houston the third-largest city within Fort Bend County, after Missouri City
and Sugar Land
.
, 0.4% Native American, 5.3% Asian, 0.1&% Pacific Islander, 16.5% from other races
, and 3.2% from two or more races
. 37% of the population was Hispanic
or Latino of any race.
The Daily Mail
stated, in regards to the 2000 census data, that the racial and ethnic diversity in Houston and Greater Houston increases further from the center of the city.
n countries look for work in the area. As of 2006 the city has the third-largest Hispanic population in the United States. As of the same year Karl Eschbach, a University of Texas Medical Branch
demographer, said that the best possible estimate for the number of illegal aliens
in the Houston area was about 400,000. This influx of immigrants is partially responsible for Houston having a population younger than the national average. As of 2011, the city is 44% Hispanic. As of 2011, of the city's U.S. citizens that are Hispanic, half are at voting age or older. Many Hispanics in Houston are not U.S. citizens, especially Hispanics living in Gulfton and Spring Branch. As a result, Hispanics have proportionally less representation in the municipal government than other ethnic groups. As of April 2011 two of the Houston City Council
members are Hispanic, making up 18% of the council.
As of 2001, Hispanics were almost 38% of Houston's population and 8% of the city's voting electorate. As of the same year, most Hispanics and Latinos elected to public office in Houston are Mexican Americans who are members of the Democratic Party. Most Hispanics and Latinos in public office are politically liberal. Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle
said in 2001 that "the top tier of Latino politicos mainly walk in lock step." According to Richard Murray, a political scientist of the Center for Public Policy of Rice University
, the Hispanic middle class of 2001 is larger than in previous years, and that Hispanic voters are present in every Houston voting precinct, including River Oaks and Tanglewood.
In 2001 Orlando Sanchez made a bid to become Mayor of Houston. Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle
said that this was the first well-funded and focused campaign for Houston mayor from a Hispanic person. Sanchez, a Cuban American
, was a member of the Republican Party
and politically conservative.
Around 2002 some Hispanics in Houston were converts to Islam. They said that many people mistake them to be of Pakistani or Middle Eastern origin because they are Muslim.
In a period before 2005 many Hispanic and Latino Americans had moved into traditional African American neighborhoods. Between 1990 and 2000 the numbers of Hispanic and Latino Americans in Kashmere Gardens
, South Park, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward increased. Since the mid-1990s changes in immigration from Cuba
to the United States occurred due to the wet feet, dry feet policy
and other policy changes; many Cubans immigrated through Mexico and people who did not have relatives in Miami settled in Houston; this caused an expansion of Houston's Cuban American
community. After Hurricane Katrina
hit New Orleans in 2005, many ethnic Hondurans
moved to Houston.
In 2007 most of the Hispanic and Latino political power was Mexican American
, of the Democratic Party
, and concentrated in eastern Houston. Many of the most vocal Hispanic and Latino leaders who participated in immigration rallies were of Central American origin and originated from Southwest Houston.
By 2011 the new city council District J formed in order to allow Hispanics in Houston to more easily elect representatives that cater to them.
as the President of Mexico
. In the early 20th century the population further increased due to the 1910 Mexican Revolution
, the use of enganchadores (labor agents), unemployment of Mexican-Americans in rural areas, a labor shortage during World War I
. and the lack of immigration restrictions during the 1920s.
In the book Ethnicity in the Sunbelt: A History of Mexican Americans in Houston, author Arnoldo De León described the relationship between Houston Mexican-Americans and newly arrived immigrants from Mexico. De León said that the traditional residents disliked how they believed that the new immigrants were giving the Mexican-American community in Houston a bad reputation but added that that, at the same time, the new immigrants kept the entire community in touch with the Mexican community.
Houston also has large populations of immigrants
from Asia
. In addition, the city has the largest Vietnamese American
population in Texas and third-largest in the United States.
In 1910 30 Asians lived in Houston. 20 were Japanese and 10 were Chinese.
By 2007 many Vietnamese American
s in Southern California
were moving to Texas to take advantage of lower costs of living. In 2007 Houston had 16,000 Asian American businesses. A 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report stated that the annual revenues of those businesses totaled to $5.5 billion.
As of 2004 Houston had the fifth largest Indonesian
population in the United States; this helps sustain the Consulate-General of Indonesia, Houston.
have made the Houston area home. As of 2003 Houston does not have as many African immigrants as Hispanic and Asian immigrants. The African immigrants in Houston have higher education levels than other immigrant groups. According to Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University
, as of 2003, almost 35% of African immigrants have university degrees, and 28% of African immigrants have postgraduate degrees. In the Houston area, 28% of US-born Whites have university degrees, and 16% have postgraduate degrees.
Charles W. Corey of the U.S. Department of State said that it has been estimated that Greater Houston has the largest Nigerian expatriate population in the United States.
As of 2003 Houston has 23,000 Nigerian Americans. Many Nigerian Americans move to Houston due to the warmer climate and the ease of establishing businesses. Until Continental Airlines
began nonstop flights to Lagos
from George Bush Intercontinental Airport
in November 2011, many Nigerians had to fly through Europe to travel between Texas and Nigeria. Jenalia Moreno of the Houston Chronicle
said that the Nigerian community and the energy companies in Houston have attempted to get a flight to Nigeria for a long time.
s as of the 2000 Census
. The population had a $53,000 median yearly household income, $11,000 more than the county average. Almost 65% of the Indian Americans in Harris County had university and college degrees, compared to 18% of all of the Harris County population. Indian Americans in Fort Bend County, as of the same census, numbered at almost 13,000 and had a median annual income of $84,000. 62% of Indian Americans in Fort Bend County had university and college degrees, compared to 25% of all residents of Fort Bend County. An estimate from the 2009 American Community Survey stated that Harris County had 46,125 Indian Americans and that Fort Bend County had 25,104 Indian Americans. Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press
said that the high education and income levels of Indian Americans caused businesses in the Mahatma Gandhi District, an Indian American ethnic enclave
in Houston, to thrive.
Half a dozen Indian American
and Pakistani American
newspapers are offered in stores and restaurants. The publications include India Herald and the Voice of Asia. The city has Masala Radio, a South Asian radio station. Indian singers often make tour stops in Houston. The Bollywood
6 movie theater on Texas State Highway 6 plays Indian films
. The Houston area has Indian dance
schools, including the Abhinaya School of Performing Arts and the Shri Natraj School of Dance.
In 1971 the Bangladeshi American
community in Greater Houston
consisted of about 10 university students; 1971 was the year when Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan. As of 2011 the Bangladeshi American population of Greater Houston includes over 10,000 people. The Bangladesh Association bought 4 acres (1.6 ha) of land in southwestern unincorporated
Harris County
in 2001. By 2011 the association announced plans to develop the $2.5 million facility Bangladeshi American Center, which will include auditoriums, classrooms, a playground, and an outdoor sports complex.
, particularly those of German
and British
origins, founded the City of Houston. Roberto R. Treviño, author of The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston, said that German Americans "historically played a central role in Houston, far outnumbering other whites such as the British, Irish
, Canadians, French
, Czechs
, Poles
, and Scandinavian
groups who historically have comprised a smaller part of the city's ethnic mosaic." In 1910 members of White American groups who founded Houston numerically outnumbered other ethnic groups who had arrived in Houston.
By the 1970s, white flight
occurred in Houston. The city government used annexation
as a strategy to mitigate White flight by forcefully annexing areas where White Americans moved to. Between the 1970-1971 and the 1971-1972 school years, enrollment at the Houston Independent School District
decreased by 16,000. Of that number, 700 were African Americans.
In 1970, 90% of the black people in Houston lived in mostly African-American neighborhoods. By 1980 this decreased to 82%.
Historically the City of Houston placed most of its landfill facilities in African-American neighborhoods. All of the landfills were established after the neighborhoods they were located in had been established as black communities. Private companies also located landfills in black neighborhoods. Between the early 1920s and the late 1970s the five municipal sanitary landfills were in black neighborhoods. During the same period, six of the eight municipal solid waste incinerators resided in mostly black neighborhoods. From 1970 to 1978 three of the four private landfills established during that period were located in Houston black neighborhoods. Around that era African-Americans made up around 25% of the city's population. Houston City Council
, which decided where the landfills would be located, was entirely composed of white people until 1972. The political efforts and advocacy behind a 1979 federal lawsuit regarding one proposed landfill lead to political changes that ended the deliberate placement of landfills in black neighborhoods.
As of 1987 most African-Americans in Houston continued to live in mostly black neighborhoods, even though they gained the legal right to move to a neighborhood of any race. A University of Chicago
researcher said that this is because many African Americans choose to live in neighborhoods where they were raised.
From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods such as the MacGregor area, Settegast
, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward and entered parts of Southwest Houston, such as Alief, Fondren Southwest, Sharpstown, and Westwood.
As of 1997, African-Americans typically constituted less than 25% of the electorate of the City of Houston. For the election of Mayor of Houston Lee P. Brown
, blacks may have made up over 33% of the turnout. Brown won 90% or more in African American neighborhoods.
By of 2005 the outflow from traditional black neighborhoods, such as the Third Ward, Sunnyside, Kashmere Gardens
, and the Fifth Ward continued, with blacks moving to Alief, other parts of Southwest Houston, Missouri City
, and northwestern suburbs. Around 2005 blacks began to move to an area around Farm to Market Road 1960
, in an unincorporated area
in Harris County
. In many traditional black neighborhoods, Hispanics and Latinos moved in their place.
An additional 150,000 to 200,000 mostly black evacuees arrived in 2005 from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with many of them deciding to stay.
which received larger numbers of Eastern and Southern Europeans. In 1910 Houston had groups of Austro-Hungarians, Greeks, Italians, Russians, and Europeans from other groups. Those groups were smaller than Houston's group of Mexican-Americans
. By 1930 Houston had 8,339 first and second generation Eastern and Southern European people in Houston. This was almost half of the size of Houston's Mexican American population.
Lasse Sigurd Seim, the consul general of the Norwegian Consulate General, Houston, described the estimated 5,000–6,000 Norwegians in the Houston area around 2008 as the largest concentration of Norwegians outside of Scandinavia
. Jenalia Moreno of the Houston Chronicle
said during that year that the influx of Norwegians into Greater Houston was "relatively new." Seim said that in the late 1800s, of all of the ports in the United States, with the exception of Ellis Island
in New York City
, more Norwegians arrived at the port of Galveston
than any other port. Many of the Norwegians who were processed through Galveston migrated to Minnesota
and other areas in the Midwestern United States
.
In a 2004 Houston Chronicle
article Nikolai V. Sofinskiy, the first consul general of the Consulate-General of Russia in Houston
, stated that the Houston area had around 40,000 Russian speakers.
Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the first headmistress of the British School of Houston
, said that before the school was established, British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to Greater Houston
, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system
. John Major
, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
, attended the school's official opening.
, Houston became a magnet for refugee resettlement. About 1,600 refugees arrive at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
per year. Refugees from Afghanistan
, Bhutan
, El Salvador
, Cuba
, Iraq
, Myanmar
, and Somalia
have settled in Houston; Burundi
ans from Rwanda
have also settled in Houston. Over the three years leading to 2009, Houston took about 2,200 Burmese
.
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, including household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
s, family status
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
, age
Ageing
Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
, race and ethnicity.
Population and households
| City of Houston Past censuses |
||
| Year | Population | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 2,396 | ? |
| 1860 | 4,845 | ? |
| 1870 | 9,332 | ? |
| 1880 | 16,513 | ? |
| 1890 | 27,557 | ? |
| 1900 | 44,633 | 85 |
| 1910 | 78,800 | 68 |
| 1920 | 138,276 | 45 |
| 1930 | 292,352 | 26 |
| 1940 | 384,514 | 21 |
| 1950 | 596,163 | 14 |
| 1960 | 938,219 | 7 |
| 1970 | 1,232,802 | 6 |
| 1980 | 1,595,138 | 5 |
| 1990 | 1,630,553 | 4 |
| 2000 | 1,953,631 | 4 |
| 2010 | 2,099,451 | 4 |
As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,953,631 people, 717,945 households, and 457,330 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,371.7 people per square mile (1,301.8/km²). There were 782,009 housing units at an average density of 1,349.6 per square mile (521.1/km²). If the city of Houston were a U.S. state, it would rank 36th in population—its 2.01 million residents in 2004 would place it behind Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and ahead of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. In 2005, the Greater Houston area had a population over 5.7 million.
There were 717,945 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 15.3% had a female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...
householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. Twenty-nine percent of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.39. The median house price was $115,961 in 2009.
In the city, the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,616, and the median income for a family was $40,443. Males had a median income of $32,084 versus $27,371 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $20,101. Nineteen percent of the population and 16% of families were below the poverty line
Poverty threshold
The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country...
. Out of the total population, 26.1% of those under the age of 18 and 14.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
As of 2002, 38,000 people living in Houston also live in Fort Bend County; this makes Houston the third-largest city within Fort Bend County, after Missouri City
Missouri City, Texas
Missouri City is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small portion within Harris County. As of the 2000 U.S...
and Sugar Land
Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. Sugar Land is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade. In the time period of 2000–2007, Sugar Land also enjoyed a...
.
Race and ethnic origins
Houston is a diverse and international city, in part because of its many academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries. According to the U.S. Census 2000, the racial makeup of the city was 49.3% White (including Hispanic or Latino), 25.3% Black or African AmericanRace (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.4% Native American, 5.3% Asian, 0.1&% Pacific Islander, 16.5% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 3.2% from two or more races
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
. 37% of the population was Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or Latino of any race.
The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
stated, in regards to the 2000 census data, that the racial and ethnic diversity in Houston and Greater Houston increases further from the center of the city.
Hispanics
The Hispanic population in Houston is increasing as more immigrants from Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries look for work in the area. As of 2006 the city has the third-largest Hispanic population in the United States. As of the same year Karl Eschbach, a University of Texas Medical Branch
University of Texas Medical Branch
The University of Texas Medical Branch is a component of the University of Texas System located in Galveston, Texas, United States, about 50 miles southeast of Downtown Houston...
demographer, said that the best possible estimate for the number of illegal aliens
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
in the Houston area was about 400,000. This influx of immigrants is partially responsible for Houston having a population younger than the national average. As of 2011, the city is 44% Hispanic. As of 2011, of the city's U.S. citizens that are Hispanic, half are at voting age or older. Many Hispanics in Houston are not U.S. citizens, especially Hispanics living in Gulfton and Spring Branch. As a result, Hispanics have proportionally less representation in the municipal government than other ethnic groups. As of April 2011 two of the Houston City Council
Houston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...
members are Hispanic, making up 18% of the council.
As of 2001, Hispanics were almost 38% of Houston's population and 8% of the city's voting electorate. As of the same year, most Hispanics and Latinos elected to public office in Houston are Mexican Americans who are members of the Democratic Party. Most Hispanics and Latinos in public office are politically liberal. Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said in 2001 that "the top tier of Latino politicos mainly walk in lock step." According to Richard Murray, a political scientist of the Center for Public Policy of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, the Hispanic middle class of 2001 is larger than in previous years, and that Hispanic voters are present in every Houston voting precinct, including River Oaks and Tanglewood.
In 2001 Orlando Sanchez made a bid to become Mayor of Houston. Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said that this was the first well-funded and focused campaign for Houston mayor from a Hispanic person. Sanchez, a Cuban American
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
, was a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and politically conservative.
Around 2002 some Hispanics in Houston were converts to Islam. They said that many people mistake them to be of Pakistani or Middle Eastern origin because they are Muslim.
In a period before 2005 many Hispanic and Latino Americans had moved into traditional African American neighborhoods. Between 1990 and 2000 the numbers of Hispanic and Latino Americans in Kashmere Gardens
Kashmere Gardens, Houston
Kashmere Gardens is a historically African-American neighborhood in the northern 610 Loop area in Houston, Texas, United States. A group of single family houses, many of which have large lots, Kashmere Gardens is between an industrial area and a rail corridor....
, South Park, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward increased. Since the mid-1990s changes in immigration from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
to the United States occurred due to the wet feet, dry feet policy
Wet feet, dry feet policy
The wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, that anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later...
and other policy changes; many Cubans immigrated through Mexico and people who did not have relatives in Miami settled in Houston; this caused an expansion of Houston's Cuban American
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
community. After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
hit New Orleans in 2005, many ethnic Hondurans
Honduran American
A Honduran American is an American of Honduran descent. The number of Hondurans in the U.S. in 2005 was estimated at 459,653.- US communities with high percentages of people of Honduran ancestry :...
moved to Houston.
In 2007 most of the Hispanic and Latino political power was Mexican American
History of the Mexican-Americans in Houston
When Houston, Texas was first settled in 1836, some Mexican prisoners of war cleared and drained swampland so the city could be settled. Some parcels of land were given to 100 of the prisoners, who became servants. Throughout most of the 19th centruy most Mexican immigrants traveled to the Rio...
, of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party
The following is a list of political parties whose names could be translated to Democratic Party or the Democrat.-Active parties:-Former parties:...
, and concentrated in eastern Houston. Many of the most vocal Hispanic and Latino leaders who participated in immigration rallies were of Central American origin and originated from Southwest Houston.
By 2011 the new city council District J formed in order to allow Hispanics in Houston to more easily elect representatives that cater to them.
Mexican-Americans
When Houston was first settled, it had relatively few Mexican Americans. Mexican migration into Houston increased with the expansion of the railroad system and the installation of Porfirio DíazPorfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
as the President of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
. In the early 20th century the population further increased due to the 1910 Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, the use of enganchadores (labor agents), unemployment of Mexican-Americans in rural areas, a labor shortage during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. and the lack of immigration restrictions during the 1920s.
In the book Ethnicity in the Sunbelt: A History of Mexican Americans in Houston, author Arnoldo De León described the relationship between Houston Mexican-Americans and newly arrived immigrants from Mexico. De León said that the traditional residents disliked how they believed that the new immigrants were giving the Mexican-American community in Houston a bad reputation but added that that, at the same time, the new immigrants kept the entire community in touch with the Mexican community.
East Asian Americans
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
from 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...
. In addition, the city has the largest Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
population in Texas and third-largest in the United States.
In 1910 30 Asians lived in Houston. 20 were Japanese and 10 were Chinese.
By 2007 many Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
s in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
were moving to Texas to take advantage of lower costs of living. In 2007 Houston had 16,000 Asian American businesses. A 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report stated that the annual revenues of those businesses totaled to $5.5 billion.
As of 2004 Houston had the fifth largest Indonesian
Indonesian American
Indonesian Americans comprise immigrants from the multiethnic country of Indonesia to the United States, and their U.S.-born descendants. As of the 2000 United States Census, they were the 15th largest group of Asian Americans...
population in the United States; this helps sustain the Consulate-General of Indonesia, Houston.
African immigrants
A significant number of African immigrantsAfrican immigration to the United States
African immigration to the United States refers to the group of recent immigrants to the United States who are nationals of Africa. The term African in the scope of this article refers to geographical or national origins rather than racial affiliation....
have made the Houston area home. As of 2003 Houston does not have as many African immigrants as Hispanic and Asian immigrants. The African immigrants in Houston have higher education levels than other immigrant groups. According to Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, as of 2003, almost 35% of African immigrants have university degrees, and 28% of African immigrants have postgraduate degrees. In the Houston area, 28% of US-born Whites have university degrees, and 16% have postgraduate degrees.
Charles W. Corey of the U.S. Department of State said that it has been estimated that Greater Houston has the largest Nigerian expatriate population in the United States.
As of 2003 Houston has 23,000 Nigerian Americans. Many Nigerian Americans move to Houston due to the warmer climate and the ease of establishing businesses. Until Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
began nonstop flights to Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
from George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...
in November 2011, many Nigerians had to fly through Europe to travel between Texas and Nigeria. Jenalia Moreno of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said that the Nigerian community and the energy companies in Houston have attempted to get a flight to Nigeria for a long time.
South Asian Americans
Harris County had almost 36,000 Indian AmericanIndian 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:...
s as of the 2000 Census
2000 Census
The following countries conducted a census of the general population in 2000:* Costa Rica, the ninth federal census, conducted at irregular intervals* Indonesia* United States, the 22nd decennial federal census...
. The population had a $53,000 median yearly household income, $11,000 more than the county average. Almost 65% of the Indian Americans in Harris County had university and college degrees, compared to 18% of all of the Harris County population. Indian Americans in Fort Bend County, as of the same census, numbered at almost 13,000 and had a median annual income of $84,000. 62% of Indian Americans in Fort Bend County had university and college degrees, compared to 25% of all residents of Fort Bend County. An estimate from the 2009 American Community Survey stated that Harris County had 46,125 Indian Americans and that Fort Bend County had 25,104 Indian Americans. Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
said that the high education and income levels of Indian Americans caused businesses in the Mahatma Gandhi District, an Indian American ethnic enclave
Ethnic enclave
An ethnic enclave is an ethnic community which retains some cultural distinction from a larger, surrounding area, it may be a neighborhood, an area or an administrative division based on ethnic groups. Sometimes an entire city may have such a feel. Usually the enclave revolves around businesses...
in Houston, to thrive.
Half a dozen 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:...
and Pakistani American
Pakistani American
A Pakistani American is any citizen or resident of the United States who has Pakistani heritage.- History in the United States :Muslim immigrants from areas that are now part of Pakistan have been migrating to America and first entered the United States as early as the eighteenth century, working...
newspapers are offered in stores and restaurants. The publications include India Herald and the Voice of Asia. The city has Masala Radio, a South Asian radio station. Indian singers often make tour stops in Houston. The Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
6 movie theater on Texas State Highway 6 plays Indian films
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
. The Houston area has Indian dance
Indian dance
Dance in India covers a wide range of dance and dance theatre forms, from the ancient classical or temple dance to folk and modern styles.Three best-known Hindu deities, Shiva, Kali and Krishna, are typically represented dancing. There are hundreds of Indian folk dances such as Bhangra, Bihu,...
schools, including the Abhinaya School of Performing Arts and the Shri Natraj School of Dance.
In 1971 the Bangladeshi American
Bangladeshi American
Bangladeshi Americans are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis. Most of them have immigrated from Sylhet region with a long trading history. Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States especially since the early 1990s to become...
community in Greater Houston
Greater Houston
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown is a 10-county metropolitan area defined by the Office of Management and Budget. It is located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas...
consisted of about 10 university students; 1971 was the year when Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan. As of 2011 the Bangladeshi American population of Greater Houston includes over 10,000 people. The Bangladesh Association bought 4 acres (1.6 ha) of land in southwestern unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
in 2001. By 2011 the association announced plans to develop the $2.5 million facility Bangladeshi American Center, which will include auditoriums, classrooms, a playground, and an outdoor sports complex.
White Americans
White Americans of northern and western European originEuropean American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
, particularly those of German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
and British
British American
British Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom . The term is seldom used by people to refer to themselves and is used primarily as a demographic or historical research term...
origins, founded the City of Houston. Roberto R. Treviño, author of The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston, said that German Americans "historically played a central role in Houston, far outnumbering other whites such as the British, Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, Canadians, French
French American
French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
, Czechs
Czech American
Czech Americans are citizens of the United States who were born in, or who descended from, the territory of the historic Czech lands, , or succession states, now known as the Czech Republic...
, Poles
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
, and Scandinavian
Scandinavian American
Scandinavian Americans are Americans with ancestral roots in Scandinavia...
groups who historically have comprised a smaller part of the city's ethnic mosaic." In 1910 members of White American groups who founded Houston numerically outnumbered other ethnic groups who had arrived in Houston.
By the 1970s, white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
occurred in Houston. The city government used annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
as a strategy to mitigate White flight by forcefully annexing areas where White Americans moved to. Between the 1970-1971 and the 1971-1972 school years, enrollment at the Houston Independent School District
Houston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities...
decreased by 16,000. Of that number, 700 were African Americans.
African-Americans
Historically Houston has had a significant African American population. From the 1870s to the 1890s, black people were almost 40% of Houston's population. Between 1910 and 1970 the black population ranged from 21% to 32.7%.In 1970, 90% of the black people in Houston lived in mostly African-American neighborhoods. By 1980 this decreased to 82%.
Historically the City of Houston placed most of its landfill facilities in African-American neighborhoods. All of the landfills were established after the neighborhoods they were located in had been established as black communities. Private companies also located landfills in black neighborhoods. Between the early 1920s and the late 1970s the five municipal sanitary landfills were in black neighborhoods. During the same period, six of the eight municipal solid waste incinerators resided in mostly black neighborhoods. From 1970 to 1978 three of the four private landfills established during that period were located in Houston black neighborhoods. Around that era African-Americans made up around 25% of the city's population. Houston City Council
Houston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...
, which decided where the landfills would be located, was entirely composed of white people until 1972. The political efforts and advocacy behind a 1979 federal lawsuit regarding one proposed landfill lead to political changes that ended the deliberate placement of landfills in black neighborhoods.
As of 1987 most African-Americans in Houston continued to live in mostly black neighborhoods, even though they gained the legal right to move to a neighborhood of any race. A University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
researcher said that this is because many African Americans choose to live in neighborhoods where they were raised.
From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods such as the MacGregor area, Settegast
Settegast, Houston
Settegast is a neighborhood in northeast Houston. The community is bordered by the 610 Loop, the Settegast Yard, and the old Beaumont Highway. The community has many small wood frame houses and empty lots. There are few commercial and industrial uses within Settegast...
, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward and entered parts of Southwest Houston, such as Alief, Fondren Southwest, Sharpstown, and Westwood.
As of 1997, African-Americans typically constituted less than 25% of the electorate of the City of Houston. For the election of Mayor of Houston Lee P. Brown
Lee P. Brown
Lee Patrick Brown had a long-time career in law enforcement, leading police departments in Atlanta, Houston and New York over the course of nearly four decades. During this time he helped to implement a number of techniques in community policing that appeared to result in substantial decreases in...
, blacks may have made up over 33% of the turnout. Brown won 90% or more in African American neighborhoods.
By of 2005 the outflow from traditional black neighborhoods, such as the Third Ward, Sunnyside, Kashmere Gardens
Kashmere Gardens, Houston
Kashmere Gardens is a historically African-American neighborhood in the northern 610 Loop area in Houston, Texas, United States. A group of single family houses, many of which have large lots, Kashmere Gardens is between an industrial area and a rail corridor....
, and the Fifth Ward continued, with blacks moving to Alief, other parts of Southwest Houston, Missouri City
Missouri City, Texas
Missouri City is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small portion within Harris County. As of the 2000 U.S...
, and northwestern suburbs. Around 2005 blacks began to move to an area around Farm to Market Road 1960
Farm to Market Road 1960
Farm to Market Road 1960 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas. Its western terminus is at an intersection with U.S...
, in an unincorporated area
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
. In many traditional black neighborhoods, Hispanics and Latinos moved in their place.
An additional 150,000 to 200,000 mostly black evacuees arrived in 2005 from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with many of them deciding to stay.
European residents and immigrants
In the late 19th and early 20th century Houston received Eastern and Southern European immigrants; as in other southern cities, Houston's European immigrants were "overflow" from cities in the eastern seabord and the Midwestern United StatesMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
which received larger numbers of Eastern and Southern Europeans. In 1910 Houston had groups of Austro-Hungarians, Greeks, Italians, Russians, and Europeans from other groups. Those groups were smaller than Houston's group of Mexican-Americans
History of the Mexican-Americans in Houston
When Houston, Texas was first settled in 1836, some Mexican prisoners of war cleared and drained swampland so the city could be settled. Some parcels of land were given to 100 of the prisoners, who became servants. Throughout most of the 19th centruy most Mexican immigrants traveled to the Rio...
. By 1930 Houston had 8,339 first and second generation Eastern and Southern European people in Houston. This was almost half of the size of Houston's Mexican American population.
Lasse Sigurd Seim, the consul general of the Norwegian Consulate General, Houston, described the estimated 5,000–6,000 Norwegians in the Houston area around 2008 as the largest concentration of Norwegians outside of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. Jenalia Moreno of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said during that year that the influx of Norwegians into Greater Houston was "relatively new." Seim said that in the late 1800s, of all of the ports in the United States, with the exception of Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, more Norwegians arrived at the port of Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
than any other port. Many of the Norwegians who were processed through Galveston migrated to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and other areas in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
.
In a 2004 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article Nikolai V. Sofinskiy, the first consul general of the Consulate-General of Russia in Houston
Consulate-General of Russia in Houston
The Consulate-General of the Russian Federation in Houston General'noe konsul'stvo Rossijskoj Federatsii v H'justone) is Russia's diplomatic office in Houston, Texas, United States. It is located in Suite 1300 at Park Towers South....
, stated that the Houston area had around 40,000 Russian speakers.
Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the first headmistress of the British School of Houston
British School of Houston
The British School of Houston is a non-sectarian, co-educational college preparatory day school located west of downtown Houston, Texas. BSOH, which opened in September 2000, offers education for ages 3 to 18...
, said that before the school was established, British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to Greater Houston
Greater Houston
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown is a 10-county metropolitan area defined by the Office of Management and Budget. It is located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas...
, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system
Education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England, and the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are...
. John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, attended the school's official opening.
Refugee populations
Since the 1970s, when Houston began absorbing refugees after the Fall of SaigonFall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
, Houston became a magnet for refugee resettlement. About 1,600 refugees arrive at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...
per year. Refugees from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
have settled in Houston; Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
ans from Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
have also settled in Houston. Over the three years leading to 2009, Houston took about 2,200 Burmese
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
.
Health
In 2010 the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston released a Health of Houston Survey. Based on the survey results, 20% of area residents consider themselves to be in poor or fair health. Half of the Houston area residents do not have dental insurance. The area's percentage of individuals who report having psychiatric distress is twice the U.S. national average. Of the racial groups, after excluding illegal immigrants, Hispanics have the lowest rates of health insurance.External links
- Houston demographics - Greater Houston Partnership - Houston.org
- Health of Houston Survey 2010 - University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- City of Houston page on demographic information
- Houston demographics at University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
- Fountain, Ken. "Ethnicity, economy highlight Houston area survey results." The Examiner. Saturday April 23, 2011.