Maltese Americans ( Maltese: ''Maltin Amerikani'' or ''Maltin tal-Amerika'') are Americans with Maltese ancestry.

History

The first immigrants from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It li ...

to the United States arrived during the mid-eighteenth century to the city of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Many Americans assumed Malta was part of Italy. In some cases "Born Malta, Italy" was put on tombstones of Maltese because of the confusion. At this time and in the nineteenth century the Maltese who emigrated to the United States were still scarce. In fact, in the 1860s, only between five and ten Maltese emigrated to the United States every year. The majority of them were agricultural workers, and, in the case of New Orleans, market gardeners and vegetable dealers.

20th century

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...

, in 1919, Maltese immigration to the US increased. In the first quarter of 1920 more than 1,300 Maltese immigrated to the United States.

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, with jobs in the expanding automobile industry, drew the largest share of immigrants. It is believed that in the following years, more than 15,000 Maltese people emigrated to the United States, later getting U.S. citizenship. A significant percentage of early Maltese immigrants intended to stay only temporarily for work, but many settled in the US permanently. In addition to Detroit, other industrial cities such as

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

attracted Maltese immigrants. After World War II the Maltese government committed to pay passage costs to Maltese people who wanted to emigrate and live at least two years abroad. This program led to increased emigration by the people of the island and made up approximately 8,000 Maltese who arrived to the United States between the years 1947 and 1977. Malta's government promoted Maltese emigration because Malta was overpopulated.

Demography

Estimates of the number of Maltese immigrants and their descendants living in the US by 1990 have been as high as 70,000. The majority of Americans of Maltese descent continued to live in the same cities where immigration had taken place, particularly Detroit (approximately 44,000 Maltese) and New York City (more than 20,000 Maltese); in the latter, most of the people of Maltese origin are concentrated in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast, ...

. San Francisco and Chicago also have significant populations. The 2019

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educat ...

estimated that there were 42,058 Americans of Maltese ancestry living in the United States. Of these, 14,078 have Maltese as their only ancestry. This includes Maltese born immigrants to the United States, their American born descendants as well as numerous immigrants from other nations of Maltese origin. Around 6,506 of them are foreign born.

Religion

As in their country of origin, Maltese Americans predominantly practice

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as their religion. Many are practicing Catholics, attending church every week and actively participating in their local parishes.

Notable people

* Rosemarie Aquilina, judge *

Kyle Balda Kyle Balda (born March 9, 1971) is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films ''The Lorax'' (2012), with Chris Renaud; '' Minions'' (2015), with Pierre Coffin; and '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'' (20 ...

, animator and film director * Joseph Borg, financial regulator * Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II,''South Bend Tribune'
Obituary of Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II
South Bend, Indiana. Retrieved January 27, 2019. literary scholar and translator *

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

, Former mayor of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the four ...

, 2020 presidential candidate, US Secretary of Transportation *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

, actor and singer * Orlando E. Caruana * Darrin Q. Camilleri, member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 U ...

Alex DeBrincat Alexander DeBrincat (born December 18, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, 39th overall, of the 20 ...

, hockey player * Aaron Falzon, basketball player * Tevin Falzon, basketball player * Danielle Fishel * Nazzareno Formosa *

Joseph Lapira Joseph Lapira (born August 13, 1986, Rochester, New York) is a retired soccer player. Born in the United States, Lapira is a one time international for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Besides the United States, he has played in N ...

Joe Sacco Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books '' Palestine'' (1996) and '' Footnotes in Gaza'' (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian rela ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

* Bryan Spears * Jamie Lynn Spears * Lynne Spears * Charlie Williams

References

External links

Maltese American Benevolent Society
in Detroit {{Authority control European-American society