Ethiopian American
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (228,745 (Ethiopia-born, 2015) 68,001 (Ethiopian ancestry)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Washington, D.C. · Los Angeles · Seattle · San Francisco Bay Area · Denver · Dallas · New York City · Atlanta · Houston · Minneapolis · Boston · Columbus, Ohio · Las Vegas · Hartford, Connecticut | |
| Languages | |
| Afar · Amharic · Oromo · Tigrinya · American English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox · Ethiopian Catholic · P'ent'ay) · Islam · Judaism |
Ethiopian Americans are Americans of Ethiopian descent as well as individuals of American and Ethiopian ancestry.
In 1919, an official Ethiopian goodwill mission was sent to the United States to congratulate the Allied powers on their victory during the First World War. The four-person delegation included Dejazmach Nadew, the nephew of Empress Zawditu and Commander of the Imperial Army, along with Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase, Mayor of Addis Ababa, Kentiba Gebru, Mayor of Gondar, and Ato Sinkas, Dejazmach Nadew's secretary.
After his official coronation, Emperor Haile Selassie sent forth the first wave of Ethiopian students to continue their education abroad. Almost a dozen Ethiopian students likewise went to the United States. They included Makonnen Desta, who studied anthropology at Harvard, and later became an interim Ethiopian Minister of Education, Makonnen Haile, who studied finance at Cornell, and Ingida Yohannes, veterinary medicine at New York University. Three other students, Melaku Beyen, Besha Worrid Hapte Wold and Worku Gobena, went to Muskingum, a missionary college in Ohio, two of them later transferring to Ohio State University. Melaku Beyan, who was one of the two who attended Ohio State, later received his medical degree at Howard Medical School in Washington, D.C.
Overall approximately 20,000 Ethiopians moved to the West to achieve higher education and conduct diplomatic missions from 1941 to 1974 under the Selassie’s rule. However, the net movement of permanent immigrants remained low during this period as most temporary immigrants ultimately returned to Ethiopia with a Western education to near assured political success, while the relative stability of the country determined that few Ethiopians would be granted asylum in the United States.
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Wikipedia