Jordanian Americans () are

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

who are descended from the

Jordanian people Jordan has a population of around 11 million inhabitants as of 2021. Jordanians ( ar, أردنيون) are the citizens of Jordan. Some 95% percent of Jordanians are Arabs, while the remaining 5% are other ethnic minorities. Around 2.9 million wer ...

. In 2014, the American Community Survey reported that there were 80,120 Jordanian Americans in the United States.

History

Pre-1967

The history of the Jordanian immigration to the United States is relatively recent. The first identifiable wave of immigration from Jordan to the United States occurred after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

(1945). Those first Jordanians settled in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, (especially in the Near West and Southwest Sides sections),

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and the Southwest and West Coast states (i.e.

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

). Over 5,000 Jordanians arrived to the United States in the 1950s. These early migrants were forced to work as immigrants because of poverty that Jordan suffered at the time, caused by the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, which took place in this small country. They were a group of hard workers that included businessmen and doctors, between others. Many men lived temporarily in the USA and returned with their families to Jordan after several years working or studying there. In those early years, people in the Jordanian East Bank and West Bank

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

could travel to the United States with Jordanian

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

s, creating the undefined category "Palestinian – Jordanian."

After 1967

In the mid 1960s, due to U.S. immigration laws and the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

of 1967 in Jordan, the number of Jordanians who emigrated to the United States exceeded the 11,000 people. At this time, the majority chose to settle in Western cities and in the southwest of the country, except the wealthy Jordanians who felt more comfortable in the suburbs of large cities. Then in the 1970s, a civil war broke out in Jordan, causing 27,535 Jordanians emigrated to the USA. In the 1980s, annually emigrated around 2,500 Jordanian to the USA. By then, the Jordanian community in the United States had grown at a rapid pace, and it already represented a large population. This was in large part related to the Arab-Israeli war in Jordan, as well as the

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...

of 1971. Therefore, a substantial number of Jordanians who settled in the United States at this time were

war refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. The total number of Jordanian immigrants from 1820 to 1984 was 56,720. This wave of Jordanian emigration was due to internal strife in his country, as well as economic issues. Salaries were in the United States were higher than in Jordan, which incentivized workers to immigrate.

Demography

U.S cities

Currently, the

New York City Metropolitan Area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan are ...

, notably including

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The

Little Ramallah South Paterson is a neighborhood in Paterson, New Jersey, United States. Location The neighborhood is bounded by NJ 19 on the west, the border with Clifton, New Jersey to the south, the Passaic River to the east, and I-80 to the north. The Arab ...

community of

South Paterson South Paterson is a neighborhood in Paterson, New Jersey, United States. Location The neighborhood is bounded by NJ 19 on the west, the border with Clifton, New Jersey to the south, the Passaic River to the east, and I-80 to the north. The Arab ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

is home to a rapidly growing Jordanian immigrant population.

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

has a sizeable Jordanian population. The Jordanian American community in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

held a candlelight vigil after the death of

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

also maintains, even today, a large Jordanian population. In the time period between

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the 1980s, most Jordanians who emigrate to the USA were men whose ages ranged from 20 and 39 and they married people. An important part of them were university graduates (30%), and worked in professional positions (40%). However, some immigrants lived only temporarily in the USA. Most Jordanians emigrate to the USA looking for better wages than they get in Jordan. One difference of Jordanians from other

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

immigrants is that they often bring their families to the US when they get a job there. The cohesion of their communities has hindered the Americanization of Jordanians. Most of Jordanians live in neighborhoods formed by people from their country. However, Jordanians who are fluent in English have greater interaction with the majority population. Their relationship with the rest of the population is reinforced when they have a good level of education and good jobs. Also, people from urban areas of Jordan be adapt more quickly in the US than those from rural areas. As with other immigrant groups, children raised in the United States integrate into American society more quickly than migrant adults. Jordanians generally speak

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, but many also speak English.

Employment and Economic traditions

Most of Jordanian Americans are professors/teachers, scientists, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs. It is often men who will work outside the home, similar to the traditions in Jordan and many other Middle Eastern Countries. Many Jordanians will emigrate to the United States to study at university, and some of them are financially helped by the government of Jordan.

Cuisine

Many cities have Jordanian restaurants such as the Petra House in Portland,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Interactions with other ethnic groups

Most Jordanian Americans interact with other Arabs due to cultural and linguistic affinities.

Religion

Most Jordanians are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

, but the majority of the Jordanian American diaspora includes many

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Greek Orthodox Christians and to a lesser extent,

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Organizations

Jordanians have many organizations in the U.S., including the Jordanian American Associationjordanian american association. S.F.
and the Jordanian American Association of New York. The Jordanian American Association is based in South San Francisco, and its goal is to establish social activities for the Jordanian Americans of Northern California The Jordanian American Association of New York aims to relate to Jordanian residents in different parts of the city, and to help establish relationships between them and their families in Jordan.Jordanian American Association of New York