Azerbaijani Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

of full or partial Azerbaijani descent. Most Azerbaijani Americans have immigrated to the United States from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, with smaller amounts from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

History

The earliest identified immigrant from Azerbaijan to the United States was Merza Ali Akbar, resident of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

who arrived at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

on the in June 1912. The first major wave of Azerbaijanis came to the U.S. in 1940s and 1950s, as many Azerbaijani

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

s and

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

left the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Iran during and after World War II. Among those were also a number of

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

s, who fled to Turkey, Iran or parts of Europe upon the Soviet occupation of Azerbaijan in 1920, and in 1950s and 1960s, moved to the United States in pursuit of better economic opportunities. This wave of Azerbaijani immigrants settled mainly in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and its

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, which hosts the largest population of Azerbaijani-Americans, in Northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

; and later in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, especially in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area where there is a large Iranian community, many of whom are Iranian Azerbaijanis. In 1957, a group of these Azerbaijani settlers in New Jersey founded the Azerbaijan Society of America, a first Azerbaijani-American community organization. By 1980 there were around 200 families that identified themselves as Azerbaijani in the United States, with about 80% of them being endogamic. In 1976,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and Baku established the first sister-city association between the cities in the U.S. and Azerbaijan. It was followed with a sister city between

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii and Baku in 1988, Newark, New Jersey and Ganja (second largest city in Azerbaijan) in the early 2000s (decade), and Monterey, California and Lankaran in 2011.

Demographics

According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were an estimated 14,205 Americans born in

, out of which 5,530 were naturalized U.S. Citizens and 5,553 identified themselves as Azerbaijani of either primary or secondary ancestry. Census 2000 did not count Azerbaijani-Americans born in countries other than Azerbaijan. According to the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

(DHS), in 2001–2010, a total of 9,391 people from Azerbaijan were naturalized as U.S. citizens. The table here presents the distribution for each year between 2001 and 2010. These statistics do not include the legal permanent residents (green card holders) who numbered 781 in 2010, refugees, legal non-immigrant aliens (temporary visitors) who numbered 4,938 in 2009, as well as a very large number of ethnic Azerbaijanis born in other countries, such as Iran, Russia and Turkey. Thus, based only on Census 2000 and DHS data, the official estimate of the U.S. citizens born in Azerbaijan is approximately 14,944, and the number of U.S. residents born in Azerbaijan is approximately 24,377, minus the natural decline. According to the U.S. Census 2000 data, the Azerbaijanis who immigrated from Azerbaijan have settled primarily in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

(12,540),

(4,357),

(3,178),

(2,743), and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

(1,559). There is also a sizeable

Mountain Jewish Mountain Jews are the Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahi Jewish subgroup of the eastern and northern Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan, and various republics in the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. M ...

population in Brooklyn.

Socio-political activity

The Azerbaijan Flag Raising in San Jose City Hall 16

The first mention of the nascent Azerbaijani-Americans in the U.S. political life appears in the 1990 issue of ''The Economist''. By the late 1990s, the Azerbaijani-Americans became more active in the American sociopolitical life, including the U.S. Congress, mainly advocating Azerbaijani interests in the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

. By 2002, the Azerbaijani-Americans became active enough to be mentioned in the speeches in the U.S. Congress. In 2004, a group of Congressmen founded the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. By 2011, the Azerbaijani-Americans have been honored in several U.S. legislative bills and resolutions.

Azerbaijani-themed parks, streets and monuments

The Azerbaijan Garden, a park, was dedicated on May 12, 2008, in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Khanlar Gasimov's sculpture "Hearth" stands at the center of the Garden. Made of polished stainless steel, the bowl-shaped sculpture allows viewers to see the reflection of the earth and sky in its exterior and interior curves. The Azerbaijani Garden is part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, which was opened in 1916, along Doan Brook in Cleveland's Rockefeller Park. The opening of the garden was celebrated by Congressman

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...

TV, radio, media and newspapers

* Gunaz TV (TV broadcast from Chicago via satellite and Internet, in Azerbaijani language only)
Azerbaijani Radio Hour
(Weekly at Sunday noon radio on

WUST WUST (1120 AM) is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C.The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station services the Washington metropolitan area as the market affiliate of the Black Information Network. ...

1120AM in Baltimore and Washington DC and via Internet, iTunes and RSS feed in English)
''Azerbaijan International''
(Los Angeles–based quarterly magazine published since 1993, in English) *''Azerbaijan Review'' (monthly newspaper published in New York since 2007, in Azerbaijani, Russian and English) *''Caspian Crossroads'' (Washington D.C.–based quarterly journal published since 1996, in English)

Notable people

Sona Aslanova Sona Aslanova (4 October 1924 – 9 March 2011) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani soprano, Meritorious Artist of Azerbaijan Republic known for her historic performances of Azerbaijani, Russian, and an international classical and folk vocal music r ...

, Soviet and Azerbaijani soprano * Semyon Bilmes, Azerbaijani-American painter *

Max Black Max Black (February 24, 1909 – August 27, 1988) was a Russian-born British-American philosopher who was a leading figure in analytic philosophy in the years after World War II. He made contributions to the philosophy of language, the philosoph ...

, Azerbaijani-born British-American philosopher, physicist, and mathematician *

Sibel Edmonds Sibel Edmonds is a former contract translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news website NewsBud. The FBI hired her as a translator shortly after 9/11 but fired her after ...

, former

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

translator and founder of the

National Security Whistleblowers Coalition The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in 2004 by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in league with over 50 former and current United States government officials from more than a dozen agencies, is an independent, nonparti ...

(NSWBC) *

Haydar Hatemi Haydar Hatemi (, born March 3, 1945, in Hadishahr) is an Iranian artist whose work is based on blends of classical oriental styles such as miniature and tazhib, with some modern elements. His early studies in art started at Tabriz's Art Academy ...

, Iranian artist *

Shireen Hunter Shireen Tahmaaseb Hunter is an independent scholar. Until 2019, she was a Research Professor at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with which she had been associated since 2005, as V ...

, academic *

Rustam Ibragimbekov Rustam Mammad Ibrahim oghlu Ibrahimbeyov (or Ibrahimbekov; ; ; 5 February 1939 – 11 March 2022) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani screenwriter, playwright and producer, well known beyond his home Azerbaijan and the former Soviet Union. He was the c ...

, Soviet-Azerbaijani screenwriter, dramatist and producer * Ali Javan, professor of physics, inventor of gas laser, Massachusetts Institute of Technology *

Cihangir Ghaffari Cihangir Ghaffari (born 9 September 1940), sometimes credited as John Ghaffari or John Foster, is an Iranian actor and film producer known for ''Les démons'' (1973), ''Dick Turpin'' (1974) and ''Bloodsport'' (1988). Career Ghaffari starred in a ...

, Azerbaijani-born Iranian-American actor and producer * Ella Leya, composer, singer, and writer, born in Baku *

Hamid Mowlana Hamid Mowlana (, Hamid Molana, born in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran) is an Iranian-American author and academic. He is professor emeritus of international relations in the School of International Services at American University in Washington, ...

, Iranian-American advisor to the Iranian President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

* Spencer Nelson, basketball player for the Azerbaijani national team *

Stepan Pachikov Stepan Alexandrovich Pachikov (; born February 1, 1950) is the co-founder of ParaGraph Intl., Parascript, Evernote Corp. among other software companies which contributed heavily to the development of Handwriting recognition and VRML technologies ...

, businessman * Firouz Partovi, physicist *

Alec Rasizade Alec Rasizade () is a prominent Soviet and American professor of history and political science, who specialized in Sovietology, primarily known for the typological model (or "algorithm" in his own words), which describes the impact of a drop in o ...

, professor of history and political science *

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

, conductor, cellist *

Chingiz Sadykhov Chingiz Sadykhov (), also spelled Sadikhov or Sadighov (5 April 1929, in Baku – 30 December 2017, in California), was a Soviet and Azerbaijani musician and pianist. He was active in Baku and San Francisco. Biography He graduated from Bul-Bu ...

, pianist * Ali Hajizade, Azerbaijani-American political analyst and entrepreneur *

Hassan Sattar Abdolhassan Sattarpour (; born 19 November 1939), better known simply as Sattar (), is an Iranian singer with specialization in both Persian pop and classical music. He had gained fame before the Islamic Revolution and became Pahlavi Royal Fam ...

, Iranian musician *

Zecharia Sitchin Zecharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 – October 9, 2010) was an author of a number of books proposing an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributed the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the ''Anunnaki'' ...

, Azerbaijani-born American author *

Sina Tamaddon Sina Tamaddon (, ) was senior vice president of applications for Apple Inc. until October 2009. Sina Tamaddon joined Apple in September 1997. He also served the company in the position of senior vice president of worldwide service and support, a ...

, Senior Vice President of

Applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

for

Apple Inc Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer ...

Behrouz Vossoughi Khalil Vossoughi (; born 11 March 1937) known professionally as Behrouz Vossoughi (), is an Iranian actor. He has also worked in television, radio and theatre. His work has earned him recognition at several international film festivals, including ...

, Iranian actor * Mirra Komarovsky, American pioneer in the sociology of gender *

Norm Zada Norman Zada (born Norman Askar Zadeh) is a former adjunct mathematics professor and an entrepreneur. He is the founder of '' Perfect 10'', an adult magazine focusing on women without cosmetic surgery, and runs the United States Investing Competiti ...

, founder of '' Perfect 10'' magazine *

Nima Arkani-Hamed Nima Arkani-Hamed (; born April 5, 1972) is an Iranian-American-Canadian

, theoretical physicist * Nargiz Birk-Petersen, Azerbaijani-American lawyer, presenter and model *

Dariush (singer) Dariush Eghbali (), known mononymously as Dariush (), is an Iranian singer that started his music career in early 1970s. Biography Childhood and youth Dariush was born in Tehran to parents from Mianeh on 4 February 1951. He spent his earl ...

, singer *

Lotfi A. Zadeh Lotfi Aliasger Zadeh (; ; ; 4 February 1921 – 6 September 2017) was a mathematician, computer scientist, electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, and professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Zad ...

, mathematician, electrical engineer and computer scientist, University of California, Berkeley *

Tony Zarrindast Tony Zarrindast ( also known as Mohammad Zarrindast) was an Iranian American film producer, film director and cinema actor. He was considered by some as the "Persian Ed Wood". His 1996 film ''Werewolf'' was featured on an episode of ''Mystery Scie ...

, artist *

Avraam I. Isayev Avraam I. Isayev (born 1942) is a University of Akron professor of polymer engineering known for widely used texts on rheology and polymer molding technology, as well as for development of technology for ultrasonic devulcanization of tire rubber. ...

, scientist *

Arkady Bukh Arkady L. Bukh (; born July 25, 1972) is an American criminal defense attorney. He is best known for representing Azamat Tazhayakov, a college student charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede ...

, criminal defense attorney *

Bella Davidovich Bella Mikhaylovna Davidovich (Бэлла Миха́йловна Давидо́вич; born July 16, 1928) is a Soviet and American pianist. Biography Davidovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, into a Jewish family of musicians and began study ...

, American pianist *

John M. Stahl John Malcolm Stahl (January 21, 1886 – January 12, 1950) was a Russian-born American film director and producer. He is best known for his films such as ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1945), '' Imitation of Life'' (1934), ''The Keys of the Kingdom ...

, American film director and producer * Ida Pavlichenko is an Azerbaijani biomedical engineer. * Konstantin Slavin professor *

Aysel Teymurzadeh Aysel Teymurzadeh (; born 25 April 1989, Baku) is an Azerbaijani pop and R&B singer. She represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 alongside Arash with the song " Always", finishing third. Biography Aysel was born in the Az ...

pop singer *

Lily Afshar Lily Afshar (; 9 March 1960 – 24 October 2023) was an Iranian-American classical guitarist. Life and career Afshar moved to the United States in 1977, to study at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where she got a bachelor's and a master's de ...

classical guitarist * Vito Arujau wrestler *

Jason Jorjani Jason Reza Jorjani (born February 21, 1981) is an American philosopher, writer, former New Jersey Institute of Technology lecturer, former editor-in-chief of the European New Right publishing company Arktos Media, and co-founder of the AltRight ...

philosopher *

Nazanin Boniadi Nazanin Boniadi (; ; born 1980) is a British actress and activist. Born in Tehran and raised in London, she attended university in the United States, where she landed her first major acting role as Leyla Mir in the soap opera ''General Hospita ...

actress

History

Demographics

Socio-political activity

Azerbaijani-themed parks, streets and monuments

TV, radio, media and newspapers

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading