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.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

of Kalmyk Mongolian ancestry. American Kalmyks initially established communities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

following a mass immigration after

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

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 Delaware ...

. 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 primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, and, later,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, French, and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

, in addition to

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and their native

Kalmyk language Kalmyk Oirat ( xal-RU, Хальмг Өөрдин келн, links=no, ''Haľmg Öördin keln'', ), commonly known as the Kalmyk language ( xal-RU, Хальмг келн, links=no, ''Haľmg keln'', ), is a variety of the Oirat language, natively ...

. Many Kalmyks were stranded in German

displaced persons camps Displaced may refer to: * Forced displacement, the involuntary movement of people from their home * Displaced (2006 film), ''Displaced'' (2006 film), a 2006 British feature film produced by Skylandian Pictures * Displaced (2010 film), ''Displaced ...

for a number of years following the end of World War II. They were originally classified as

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

under U.S. immigration law, and therefore denied entry, but in 1951 they were reclassified as

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

. In 1955 many immigrated to the

after the

Tolstoy Foundation The Tolstoy Foundation is a non-profit charitable and philanthropic organization. It was established on April 26, 1939, by Alexandra Tolstaya, the youngest daughter of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, and her friend Tatiana Schaufuss. Its headquarter ...

sponsored their passage. There are several Kalmyk Buddhist temples in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population w ...

, (notably

Freewood Acres, New Jersey Freewood Acres is an unincorporated community located within Howell Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area is made up of mostly single-story homes arranged along a street grid in the northern reaches of the Pin ...

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

Notable people

Sandje Ivanchukov Sandje Ivanchukov (russian: Санджи Саранович Иванчуков, xal, Иванчукан Санҗ, translit=İvançukan Sanc, July 23, 1960 – August 29, 2007) was an American soccer defender who played professionally in the Nor ...

* Erdne Ombadykow *

Ngawang Wangyal Ngawang Wangyal (), aka Sogpo (Mongolian) Wangyal, popularly known as Geshe Wangyal and "America's first lama," was a Buddhist lama and scholar of Kalmyk origin. He was born in the Astrakhan province in southeast Russia sometime in 1901 and died ...

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 Howell Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is the largest municipality in the county by total area, comprised of about . It is located in the New York metropolitan area and has been a steadily gro ...

{{European Americans European-American society Ethnic groups in the United States Kalmyk diaspora

Notable people

See also

References

External links