Australian American

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Australian American
flagicon|Australiaflagicon|United_States
poptime = 60,965
popplace = California, Hawaii, New York

An Australian American is a naturalized American citizen with a significant relationship to Australia, such as by being born in Australia, by holding Australian citizenship, or being a descendant of people from Australia.

The first wave of emigration from Australia to the United States came in the 1850s California Gold Rush when mostly Irish migrants who had escaped the Great Irish Famine had previously worked on the Australian goldfields.

The story of Australian American population almost follows the story of both British Americans and Irish Americans, as Australia was a British political territory at the time when they first emigrated and most of the settlers were Irish. In San Francisco the "Sydney Ducks" as they were known, were in violent conflict with nativist locals. Transpacific immigration then dried up while the American Civil War waged. It picked up during the period of Reconstruction, but faltered again when Australia was hit by a depression in the late 1890s.

Immigration to the United States peaked in the years following World War II, due to America's increased economic activity, and the exodus of 15,000 Australian war brides who married US servicemen. From 1971 to 1990 more than 86,400 Australians and New Zealanders immigrated to the United States. [http://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Australian-and-New-Zealander-Americans.html]

Demographics

At the 2000 Census 60,965 Australian born people were enumerated in the United States, of which 15,315 were citizens. Around 40% of Australian Americans had entered the United States before 1980. [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/stp-159/stp159-australia.pdf]

Australians are held to be predominantly white/of the European race and of Anglo-British ancestry, but the facts are Australia is home to many different races and ethnic groups. Some white Australians may have Australian Aborigine ancestry indigenous to the continent, and many European and later Asian immigrants (i.e. Chinese, Southeast Asians, Indians and Middle Easterners to name a few) settled in the country since the end of WWII.

Notable Australian Americans

Business

Writers

port

Other