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Immigrant Demographics of Guilford County
Regions of the World that Contribute to our Local Population
Asia
Vietnam: The Vietnamese are the largest single refugee population to be resettled in the US in the last 30 years. About 4,000 have resettled in the Greensboro area since 1979 as refugees or secondary migrants. They are a diverse population culturally, ethnically, and religiously, and not organized through any broad based structure.
Highlands of Vietnam: The Montagnards (French for "mountain people") are people from a number of different tribes from the Highlands of Vietnam. They had been isolated mountain farmers and hunter-gatherers until the Vietnam War when the US government recruited them as front line soldiers for the US Army Special Forces. About 5,000 have now settled in Guilford County making it the largest Montagnard community outside Vietnam. Over 1000 live in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas combined. A few hundred Nung, a tribal group from northern Vietnam, have been resettled here too and are often grouped with the Montagnard tribes. The total Montagnard population for the state is approaching 7,000 people. More are expected to come as refugees in the coming year. For more info visit http://www.cal.org/co/publications/cultures/montagnards.html
Cambodia: In the early 1980's, the first Cambodian refugees were resettled in Greensboro. A stable community of about 60 large families representing about 500 people are closely affiliated with the Greensboro Buddhist Center. An additional 800 Cambodians live around the Triad including a large concentration in Davidson County.
Laos: Greensboro was not an initial resettlement site for Laotians. However, since the mid 1980's many families came as secondary migrants from other states, and now the Laotian population is stabilized at about 1000 people.
Highlands of Laos: North Carolina has a few thousand hill tribe refugees from Laos, mostly Hmong, who migrated from other states to rural areas of North Carolina plus new arrivals who came in 2005. A few families live in Guilford County plus over 50 college students at UNCG, but over 15,000 have resettled in the state, mostly in the western Piedmont areas. Other hill tribe populations from Laos in Guilford include approximately 200 Khmu refugees as well as small groups of other tribes.
Korea: About 2,000 Korean immigrants, many well established, are represented in Guilford County. An additional 2,000 live in the extended Triad area.
India: An Indian immigrant population estimated at 2000 is well established in the Guilford area and has a long history here. Many are connected with university and medical communities and have multiple community organizations.
Pakistan: There are an estimated 600 Pakistanis living in Guilford County.
China: Ethnic Chinese are part of many Asian countries. The local Chinese Association, comprised primarily of mainland Chinese, has a few hundred members. Ethnic Chinese here are in the thousands.
Palestine/Israel: There are estimates of over 1,000 Palestinians in the Guilford County area, and additional thousands in the greater Triad. Many came after the war in 1967. A few hundred Israeli nationals have also come to the Triad, particularly in international business positions.