In June 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution recognizing the significance of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States. In February 2006, the resolution passed the Senate. Since that time, the White House has issued an annual proclamation recognizing June as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.
This month’s commemoration marks the eighth Caribbean-American Heritage Month. In celebration of this observance, the Census Bureau presents a variety of data it publishes related to people of Caribbean heritage.
The estimated U.S. population of West Indian ancestry. Some of the largest West Indian ancestry groups in the United States include:
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Jamaican (1.0 million)
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Haitian (908,000)
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Trinidadian and Tobagonian (196,000)
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Barbadian (62,000)
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Bahamian (53,000)
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U.S. Virgin Islander (17,000)
Note: The estimates for Barbadian and Bahamian are not significantly different from each other.
In addition, there are Hispanic or Latino origin groups in the United States who can trace their heritage to this part of the world:
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Puerto Rican (4.9 million)
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Cuban (1.9 million)
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Dominican (1.6 million)
Note that these populations are not mutually exclusive, as people may be of more than one ancestry or ethnic group.
Source: 1-year 2011 American Community Survey, Tables B04006 and B03001
A wide range of data on the social, economic and housing characteristics for a number of West Indian and Hispanic or Latino groups is available via the 2006-2010 American Community Survey Selected Population Tables.
•Jamaican (social)(economic)(housing)
•Haitian (social)(economic)(housing)
•Trinidadian and Tobagonian (social)(economic)(housing)
•Barbadian (social) (economic) (housing)
•Bahamian (social) (economic) (housing)
•Puerto Rican (social) (economic) (housing)
•Cuban (social) (economic) (housing)
•Dominican (social) (economic) (housing)
