Kalmyk 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 Kalmyk Mongolic ancestry.

History

American Kalmyks initially established communities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

following a mass immigration after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The largest groups of Kalmyks originally settled primarily in the states of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

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 ...

. The majority of today's Kalmyk American population are descended from those Kalmyks who had fled Russia in late 1920 to places such as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and, later,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. As a consequence of their decades-long migration through Europe, many original immigrant Kalmyk Americans could speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, French, and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

, in addition to

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and their native

Kalmyk language Kalmyk Oirat (, ), also known as the Kalmyk language () and formerly anglicized as Calmuck, is a Variety (linguistics), variety of the Oirat language, natively spoken by the Kalmyks, Kalmyk people of Kalmykia, a federal subject of Russia. In R ...

. Many Kalmyks were stranded in German displaced persons camps for a number of years following the end of World War II. They were originally classified as Asian under U.S. immigration law, and therefore denied entry, but in 1951 they were reclassified as Caucasian. In 1955 many immigrated to the

after the Tolstoy Foundation sponsored their passage. There are several Kalmyk Buddhist temples in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...

, (notably Freewood Acres, New Jersey) where the vast majority of American Kalmyks reside, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, as well as a Tibetan Buddhis
Learning Center
and monastery in Washington Township, New Jersey.

Notable people

* Sandje Ivanchukov * Erdne Ombadykow * Ngawang Wangyal * Tsem Rinpoche * Dewa Nimbo

References

External links

Map Collection of the Library of Congress: "Carte de Tartarie" of Guillaume de L'Isle (1675-1726)
shows territories of Kalmyks as in 1706.
Kalmyk Mongolian Buddhist Center
Howell, New Jersey

a Kalmyk Buddhist temple in Howell, New Jersey {{Demographics of the United States American people of Kalmyk descent Ethnic groups in the United States Kalmyk diaspora

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links