Overseas Indians (
IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are
Indians who live outside of the
Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of India who are not living in the country, while the term ''People of Indian Origin'' are people of Indian birth or ancestry who are not citizens of India, but are citizens of other nations and may additionally have
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), with those having the OCI status known as ''Overseas Citizens of India''. According to a
Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 32 million NRIs and OCIs residing outside India and overseas Indians comprise the world's largest overseas diaspora.
Every year 2.5 million (25 lakhs) Indians migrate overseas, which is the highest annual number of migrants in the world.
[Planning to Study, Work in Canada? Here's Why Tomorrow's Election Could Amend Immigration Rules](_blank)
, News18, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021.
The diaspora has led to politicians of Indian ancestry becoming leaders of the countries of their residence. This list includes full-ethnic Indian heads of states and governments such as
Basdeo Panday
Basdeo Panday (; born 25 May 1933) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, and former civil servant who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first ...
,
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and
Noor Hassanali
Noor Mohamed Hassanali (; 13 August 1918 – 25 August 2006) was the second president of Trinidad and Tobago (1987–1997). A retired high-court judge, Hassanali was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Muslim to hold the ...
of Trinidad and Tobago,
Cheddi Jagan
Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...
,
Donald Ramotar
Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar (born 22 October 1950) is a Guyanese politician who was President of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1997 to 2013.
Political career
Ramotar jo ...
,
Bharrat Jagdeo
Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 1997 until 1999, during the pr ...
,
Moses Nagamootoo
Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (Tamil: மோசஸ் வீராசாமி நாகமுத்து; born 30 November 1947) is a Guyanese politician, writer and novelist who served as the Prime Minister of Guyana under former President Da ...
, and
Irfaan Ali
Mohamed Irfaan Ali (born 25 April 1980) is a Guyanese politician who has served as the tenth and current president of Guyana since 2020. He is the first Muslim to hold the office, along with being the second Muslim head of state in the Americas ...
of Guyana,
Chan Santokhi,
Ramsewak Shankar
Ramsewak Shankar (born 6 November 1937) is a Surinamese politician who was the 4th President of Suriname, serving from 1988 to 1990. His government was overthrown by Dési Bouterse leading a bloodless military coup. Shankar had previously served ...
,
Pretaap Radhakishun
Pretaapnarian Shawh Radhecheran Radhakishun (also known as Pretaap Radhakishun; 3 September 1934 – 6 January 2001) was a Surinamese politician. He was Prime Minister of Suriname from July 1986 to April 1987, and Vice President of Suriname from ...
, and
Fred Ramdat Misier
Lachmipersad Frederik "Fred" Ramdat Misier (28 October 1926 – 25 July 2004) was a Surinamese politician who served as the 3rd President of the Republic of Suriname, serving from 1982 to 1988.
Early life
He was born on 28 October 1926 in Paramar ...
of Suriname,
Mahendra Chaudhry of Fiji,
Pravind Jugnauth,
Prithvirajsing Roopun,
Anerood Jugnauth
Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart.
A central fi ...
,
Kailash Purryag,
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim,
Navin Ramgoolam
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP (born 14 July 1947) is a Mauritian politician who was former Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2005 to 2014 and leader of the Labour Party (Mauritius). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1991 to 1995. He ser ...
,
Veerasamy Ringadoo, and
Seewoosagur Ramgoolam of Mauritius,
Devan Nair
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair and better known simply as Devan Nair, was a Malaysian-Singaporean politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resi ...
and
S. R. Nathan of Singapore, and
Rishi Sunak of U.K. and those of mixed heritage, such as
Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia,
António Costa and
Alfredo Nobre da Costa
Alfredo Jorge Nobre da Costa, (10 September 1923 – 1 April 1996), commonly known as Nobre da Costa (), was a Portuguese engineer and politician who briefly served as prime minister of Portugal from August to November 1978.
A moderate indepen ...
of Portugal,
Leo Varadkar of Ireland,
Halimah Yacob
Halimah Yacob (Jawi script: ; born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former lawyer who has been serving as the eighth president of Singapore since 2017. Prior to her presidency, she was the country's Speaker of the Parliament of S ...
of Singapore, and
Wavel Ramkalawan
Wavel Ramkalawan (born 15 March 1959) is a Seychellois politician and Anglican priest who has been serving as the president of Seychelles since 26 October 2020. Ramkalawan was an opposition MP from 1993 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. He also served a ...
of Seychelles.
Legal framework
Non-resident Indian (NRI)
Strictly asserting, the term says
non-resident refers only to the
tax status of a citizen who, as per section 6 of
The Income-tax Act, 1961
The Income-tax Act, 1961 is the charging statute of Income Tax in India. It provides for levy, administration, collection and recovery of Income Tax. The Government of India brought a draft statute called the "Direct Taxes Code" intended to rep ...
, has not resided in India for a specified period for the purposes of the Income Tax Act.
The rates of income tax are different for persons who are "resident in India" and for NRIs. For the purposes of the Income Tax Act, "residence in India" requires stay in India of at least 182 days in a financial year or 365 days spread out over four consecutive years and at least 60 days in that year. According to the act, any Indian citizen who does not meet the criteria as a "resident of India" is a non-resident of India and is treated as NRI for paying income tax.
NRI status do not restrict some one to invest in India. Currency trading, also known as currency trading or foreign exchange trading, is a global market where all the foreign currency from across the globe are traded, bought and sold. The market for foreign exchange is the largest in the world. The market has an average trading volume of over 5 trillion dollars a day. Through FET NRI money can be invested.
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
After multiple efforts by leaders across the Indian political spectrum, a long term visa scheme was established, the "Overseas Citizenship of India", commonly referred to as the ''OCI card''. The name is itself misleading, as it doesnt offer indian citizenship. The
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
does not permit full dual citizenship. The OCI card is effectively a long-term visa, with restrictions on voting rights and government jobs. The card is available to certain Overseas ex-Indians, and while it affords holders residency and other rights, it does have restrictions, and is not considered to be any type of Indian citizenship from a constitutional perspective.
Person of Indian origin (PIO)
A person of Indian origin (PIO)
[PIO OCI Card - MEA, GOI https://mea.gov.in/Portal/CountryQuickLink/703_PIO-OCI.pdf ] was a form of identification means a foreign citizen (except a national of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
China,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
,
Sri Lanka and/or
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
), who:
* at any time held an Indian
passport (but not currently) or
* either of their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents were born and permanently resident in India as defined in
Government of India Act, 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter provided neither was at any time a citizen of any of the aforesaid countries (as referred above) or
* is a spouse of a citizen of India or a PIO.
Prime minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
announced on 28 September 2014 that PIO and OCI cards would be merged.
On 9 January 2015, the Person of Indian Origin Card scheme was withdrawn by the Government of India and was merged with the
Overseas Citizen of India card scheme. PIO cardholders must apply to convert their existing cards into OCI cards. The
Bureau of Immigration stated that it would continue to accept the old PIO cards as valid travel documents until 31 December 2022.
Comparison
History of emigration from India
Spread of Indic religions
Arabian peninsula
Central Asia
Narimsimhan et al. (2018) have found that there was an "Indus periphery" population living in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
during the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. They had migrated from the
Indus Valley civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
and had settled down in
BMAC settlements to trade, this is corroborated by the discovery of Indus Valley seals in Central Asia.
The modern Indian merchant diaspora in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
and
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
emerged in the mid-16th century and remained active for over four centuries.
Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
at the mouth of the
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
was the first place in the
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
where an Indian merchant colony was established as early as the 1610s. Russian chroniclers reported the presence of Hindu traders in Moscow and St Petersburg in the 18th century.
![India Square JC jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/India_Square_JC_jeh.JPG)
Multani people from
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the old ...
,
Shikarpur and
Mawar of both Hindu and Muslim background acted as bankers and merchants in
Safavid Persia. Hindu merchants in
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
were massacred by
Ottomans as stated by an Armenian, with the Indian merchant community plummeting due to the
Ottoman and Afghan wars in Iran (1722–27). In
Kerman, traders of Hindu background had a
caravanserai. Traders of Indian background were mentioned by Jean Chardin, Jean de Thévenot, Adam Olearius and F. A. Kotov in the
Safavid dynasty in Persia where they lived along with Jews and Armenians. Traders from India of Sikh and Hindu background lived in the
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
and
Zand dynasties in Persia after a clampdown by
Nader Shah and the Afghan
Ghilzar wars in Iran.
Sarmarqandi and
Bukharan traders bought Indian indigo from merchants of Hindu origin in Kandahar in 1783 according to George Forester. The tallest houses were owned by Hindus according to Elphinstone in 1815. Lumsden recorded 350 stores owned by Hindus in
Kandahar
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...
. Finance, precious metals, and textiles were all dealt with by Sikhs and Hindus in Kandahar.
A Hindu worked for
Timur Shah Durrani in Afghanistan.
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
Hindus were in Kabul by 1783.
Money lending
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
was the main occupation of Hindus in Kabul. Armenians and Hindus lived in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
according to an 1876 survey. Jews and Hindus lived in Herat in the 1800s. Sindhi Shikarpur Hindus, Jews, and Arabs lived in Balkh in 1886. Sindhi and Punjabi were the languages used by Indians in Afghanistan. Some Afghan cities including Kabul have places of worship for Hindus and Sikhs. Local citizenship has been obtained in Afghanistan by Hindu and Sikh traders.
Peshawari and Shikarpuri Indian traders were involved in Central Asia. The Shikarpuri invested in grain in the Bukharan Emirate as well as Ferghana cotton/. They also engaged in legal money lending in Bukhara, which they could not legally do in
Russian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan (russian: Русский Туркестан, Russkiy Turkestan) was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire’s Central Asian territories, and was administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship. It comprised the ...
.
Jews, Hindus, Baluch, Persians, and Arabs lived in Samargand, and Hindus and Baháʼís live in Baluchistan and Khorasan in Iran.
Han Chinese men, Hindu men, Armenian men, Jewish men and Russian men
were married by Uyghur Muslim women who could not find husbands. Uyghur merchants would harass Hindu usurers by screaming at them asking them if they ate beef or hanging cow skins on their quarters. Uyghur men also rioted and attacked Hindus for marrying Uyghur women in 1907 in Poskam and Yarkand like Ditta Ram calling for their beheading and stoning Indians to death as they engaged in anti-Hindu violence. Hindu Indian usurers engaging in a religious procession led to violence against them by Muslim Uyghurs. In 1896 two Uyghur Turkis attacked a Hindu merchant and the British consul Macartney demanded the Uyghurs be punished by flogging.
The money lenders and merchants of Hindu background from British India in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
were guaranteed by the British Consul-General.
Russian refugees, missionaries, and
British-Indian merchants and money lenders of Hindu background were potential targets of gangs of
Kashgaris so the Consulate-General of Britain was a potential shelter.
The killings of two Hindus at the hands of Uighurs took place in the Shamba Bazaar
in a most brutal fashion.
The plundering of the valuables of slaughtered British Indian Hindus happened in Posgam on 25 March 1933, and on the previous day in
Karghalik at the hands of
Uighurs.
Killings of Hindus took place in Khotan at the hands of the Bughra Amirs.
Antagonism against both the British and Hindus ran high among the Muslim Turki
Uyghur rebels in Xinjiang's southern area. Muslims plundered the possessions in
Karghalik of Rai Sahib Dip Chand, who was the
aksakal of Britain, and his fellow Hindus on 24 March 1933, and in
Keryia they slaughtered British Indian Hindus.
Sind's Shikarpur district was the origin of the Hindu diaspora there. The slaughter of the Hindus from British India was called the "Karghalik Outrage". The Muslims had killed nine of them.
The forced removal of the Swedes was accompanied by the slaughter of the Hindus in
Khotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
by the Islamic Turkic rebels.
The Emirs of Khotan slaughtered the Hindus as they forced the Swedes out and declared
sharia in Khotan on 16 March 1933.
Southeast Asia
A major emigration from the Indian subcontinent was to
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
. There is a possibility that the first wave of Indian migration towards Southeast Asia occurred when
Emperor Ashoka invaded
Kalinga and following
Samudragupta
Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the ...
's expedition towards the South. This was followed by early interaction of Indian traders with South Asians and, after the mid-first millennium CE, by the emigration of members of the
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
social
caste. This resulted in the establishment of the
Indianised kingdoms
Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere, is an area composed of many countries and regions in South Asia, South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture, which itself formed from the various distinct indigeno ...
in Southeast Asia. The
Chola rulers
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE ...
, who were known for their naval power, conquered
Sumatra and the
Malay Peninsula.
Another early diaspora, of which little is known was a reported Indian "Shendu" community that was recorded when
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
was annexed by the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
in the 1st century by the Chinese authorities.
European Colonial rule (to 1947)
![East Indian Women, Men and Children (13227675614)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/East_Indian_Women%2C_Men_and_Children_%2813227675614%29.jpg)
During the mid-19th century right after the
British Colonial disasters ended, much of the
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
that occurred was of pioneering
Girmitya indentured workers – mostly
Bhojpuri and
Awadhi-speaking people from the
Bhojpur district of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
to other British colonies under the
Indian indenture system
The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than one million Indians were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th c ...
. The major destinations were
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
,
Guyana,
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
,
Suriname, other parts of the
Caribbean (e.g.
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
,
Guadeloupe,
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
,
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
,
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
,
Grenada,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea w ...
,
Saint Lucia),
Fiji,
Réunion,
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
,
Malay Peninsula (e.g.
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
),
East Africa (e.g.
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
,
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
) and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
Gujarati and
Sindhi merchants and traders settled in the
Arabian Peninsula,
Aden,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, South Africa and East African countries, most of which were ruled by the British. The
Indian Rupee
The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...
was the legal currency in many countries of Arabian peninsula.
Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Baloch and Kashmiri Camel drivers were brought to Australia.
[Westrip, J. & Holroyde, P. (2010): ''Colonial Cousins: a surprising history of connections between India and Australia.'' Wakefield Press. , p. 175.]
Post-independence
After gaining independence from the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
, unlike internal migration, senior government leaders have historically not vocalized opinions on international emigration. As a result, it remains a political issue only in states with major emigrant populations, such as
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
and to a lesser degree
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
and
Goa. However, the phenomenon continues to be a major force in India's economic (
Foreign direct investment), social and political relations with nations having significant Indian populace.
Overseas experience
Love for India
Indophilia or Indomania is love, admiration or special interest for India or its people and culture.
Indophile is someone who loves India, Indian culture, cuisine, religions, history or its people.
Overseas discrimination
Demography by country
Diaspora by host country
Africa
Madagascar
Indians in
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
are descended mostly from traders who arrived in 19th century looking for better opportunities. The majority of them came from the Indian west coast state of
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and were known as
Karana (Muslim) and
Bania (Hindu). The majority speak
Gujarati, though some other Indian languages are spoken. Nowadays the younger generations speak at least three languages including French or English, Gujarati and
Malagasy.
Mauritius
The people are known as
Indo-Mauritian
Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia.
History
During the administration of the French East India Company (until 1767) and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 work ...
s, and form about 65.8% of the population. The majority of them are
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
(73.7%) and a significant group are
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
(26.3%). Mauritius is the only Hindu majority (48.5%) country of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
according to the 2011 census. There are also a relatively small number of
Baháʼís and
Sikhs. The
mother tongue of Indo-Mauritians is
Creole, as well as French and English in general fields, however various Indian languages are still spoken, especially
Bhojpuri,
Tamil,
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
,
Marathi,
Odia,
Telugu, and
as they are used in religious activities.
Mauritius hosts the
Aapravasi Ghat
The Immigration Depot ( hi, आप्रवासी घाट, ISO: ''Āpravāsī Ghāta'') is a building complex located in Port Louis on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, la ...
, the only site of UNESCO in the world, to pay homage to the memory of
indenture. The Indian Festivals of
Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava.
In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...
,
Diwali,
Thaipusam
Thaipusam or Thaipoosam (Tamil language, Tamil: தைப்பூசம், ''taippūcam'' Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Indic), ?), is a festival celebrated by the Hindu Tamil people, Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil calendar, T ...
,
Ponggal,
Ganesh Chaturthi and
Ugadi
Ugadi or Yugadi, also known as Samvatsarādi (), is New Year's Day according to the Hindu calendar and is celebrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India. It is festively observed in these regions on the first ...
are all National Holidays as well as the Annual Commemoration of the Arrival of Indian Indentured Labourers in Mauritius.
Réunion
Indians make up a quarter of Réunion's population. Most originally came as
indentured
An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...
workers from
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
.
South Africa
![Navanethem Pillay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Navanethem_Pillay.jpg)
Most Asians in South Africa are descended from indentured Indian labourers who were brought by the British from India in the 19th century, mostly to work on the
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s of what is now the province of
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The majority are of
Tamil speaking heritage along with people that speak
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
or
Bhojpuri, mostly descending from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There are also smaller numbers of
Telugu speaking communities while a minority are descended from Indian traders who migrated to South Africa at around the same time, many from Gujarat. The city of
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
has the highest number of Asians in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi worked as a lawyer in the country in the early 1900s. South Africa has one of the highest number of people of Indian descent outside of India in the world, i.e. born in South Africa and not migrant. Most of them are fourth or fifth-generation descendants. Most Indian South Africans do not speak any Indian languages, as they were 'lost' over the generations, although some do enjoy watching Indian movies and listening to
Indian music
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...
, and they maintain (and have had imposed upon them) a strong ''Indian''
racial
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
identity as a consequence of the legacy of
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
East Africa
![Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 1977](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Freddie_Mercury_performing_in_New_Haven%2C_CT%2C_November_1977.jpg)
Before the larger wave of migration during the British colonial era, a significant group of South Asians, especially from the west coast (
Sindh,
Surat, Konkan and Malabar Coast, Malabar) travelled regularly to South East Africa, especially Zanzibar. It is believed that they travelled in Arab ''dhows'', Maratha Navy ships (under Kanhoji Angre), and possibly Chinese junks and Portuguese vessels. Some of these people settled in South-East Africa and later spread to places like present day Uganda, and Mozambique. Later they mingled with the much larger wave of South Asians who came with the British.
Indian migration to the modern countries of Kenya, Uganda, Mauritius, South Africa, and Tanzania began nearly a century ago when these parts of the continent were under British and French colonial rule. Most of these migrants were of Gujarati or Punjabi people, Punjabi origin. There are almost three million Indians living in South-East Africa. Indian-led businesses were (or are) the backbone of the economies of these countries. These ranged in the past from small rural grocery stores to sugar mills. In addition, Indian professionals, such as doctors, teachers, engineers, also played an important part in the development of these countries.
Asia
Indonesia
![Manoj_punjabi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Manoj_punjabi.jpeg)
The official figures, it is estimated that there are around 125,000 Indians living in Indonesia and 25,000 PIOs/NRIs living in Indonesia of which the Indian expatriate community registered with the embassy and consulate in Medan numbers around 5,000-7,000 people. Most are from Tamil descendants. There are other sources stated that there are more than 400,000 Indians in Indonesia.
Indians have been living in Indonesia for centuries, from the time of the Srivijaya and Majapahit Empire both of which were Hindu and heavily influenced by the subcontinent. Indians were later brought to Indonesia by the Dutch in the 19th century as indentured labourers to work on plantations located around Medan in Sumatra. While the majority of these came from South India, a significant number also came from the north of India. The Medan Indians included Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. They have now been in Indonesia for over four generations and hold Indonesian passports. While local statistics continue to suggest that there are some 40,000 PIOs in Sumatra, the vast majority are now completely assimilated into Indonesian society, though some elements of the Tamil, Punjabi and odia people, Odia communities still maintain their cultural traditions.
The Indian diaspora also includes several thousand Sindhis, Sindhi families who constitute the second wave of Indian immigrants who made Indonesia their home in the first half of the 20th century. The Sindhi community is mainly engaged in Trade, trading and commerce.
Among these communities, Tamils and to a lesser extent Sikhs were primarily engaged in agriculture while Sindhis and Punjabis mainly established themselves in textile trade and sports businesses.
The inflow of major Indian investments in Indonesia starting in the late 1970s drew a fresh wave of Indian investors and managers to this country. This group of entrepreneurs and business professionals has further expanded over the past two decades and now includes engineers, consultants, chartered accountants, bankers and other professionals.
The Indian community is very well regarded in Indonesia, is generally prosperous, and includes individuals holding senior positions in local and multinational companies.
Due to economic factors, most traders and businessmen among PIOs have over past decades moved to Jakarta from outlying areas such as Medan and Surabaya. Almost half the Indian Community in Indonesia is now Jakarta-based; it is estimated that the population of Jakarta's Indian community is about 19,000. There are six main social or professional associations in Jakarta's Indian PIO/NRI community. Gandhi Seva Loka (formerly known as Bombay Merchants Association) is a charitable institution run by the Sindhi community and is engaged mainly in educational and social activities. The India Club is a social organisation of PIO/NRI professionals. An Indian Women's Association brings together PIO/NRI spouses and undertakes charitable activities. There is a Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee in Jakarta and Sindhis as well, Sikhs are associated with Gurudwara activities. The Economic Association of Indonesia and India (ECAII) brings together leading entrepreneurs from the Indian community with the objective of promoting bilateral economic relations, but it has been largely inactive. Finally, there is the Indonesian Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
Japan
Indians in Japan consist of migrants from India to Japan and their descendants. , There are currently around 40,000 Indians living in Japan.
Roughly 60% consist of expatriate IT professionals and their families.
Malaysia
![Nicol David Khai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Nicol_David_Khai.jpg)
Malaysia has one of the world's largest overseas Indian and overseas Chinese populations. Most Indians migrated to Malaysia as plantation labourers under British rule. They are a significant minority ethnic group, making up 8% or 2,410,000 as 2017 of the Malaysian population. 85% of these people are Tamil-speaking. They have retained their languages and religion – 88% of ethnic Indians in Malaysia identify as Hindus. A minority number of the population are Sikhs and Muslims.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty, who are the descendants of only Tamil traders who had emigrated before 1500 CE. Considering themselves Tamil, speaking Malay, and practicing Hinduism, the Chittys number about 200,000 today.
Nepal
In 2006, the newly formed Nepal parliament passed the controversial citizenship act Nepal citizenship law that allowed nearly two million Indians especially those living in the Madhesh province of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
to acquire Nepalese citizenship and Nepalese identity via naturalisation. The total number of Indian citizens temporarily living and working in Nepal is estimated to be somewhere between two and three million. Nepal is also the seventh largest source of remittance to India, which amounted to nearly $3.5 billion in 2013/2014.
Philippines
Currently, there are over 150,000 people of Indian origin residing in Philippines. By law, Indian Filipinos are defined as Philippine nationality law, Philippine citizens of Indian descent.
India and the Philippines have historic cultural and economic ties going back over 3,000 years. Iron Age finds in the Philippines point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu in South India and what are today the Philippine Islands during the ninth and tenth centuries BCE. The influence of Culture of India, Indian culture on Culture of the Philippines, Filipino cultures intensified from the 2nd through the late 14th centuries CE, impacting various fields such as language, politics, and religion.
During the Seven Years' War, Indians from Chennai, and Tamil Nadu were part of the Battle of Manila (1762), British expedition against Manila#Spanish period, Spanish Manila, taking the city from the Spanish East Indies government and occupying the surrounding areas until Cainta, Rizal, Caintâ and Morong, Bataan, Morong (today in Rizal (province), Rizal province) between 1762 and 1763. Following the end war's end, a number of Indian soldiers mutinied, settled, and married local Tagalog language, Tagalog women. These ''Sepoy'' Indians still have descendants in the town today.
[Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia - Google Boeken](_blank)
. Books.google.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
Singapore
![Sundramoorthy2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Sundramoorthy2.JPG)
Indian Singaporeans – defined as persons of South Asian paternal ancestry – form 9% of the country's citizens and permanent residents,
making them
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
's third largest ethnic group. Among cities, Singapore has one of the largest overseas Indian populations.
Although contact with ancient India left a deep cultural impact on Singapore's indigenous Malays in Singapore, Malay society, the mass migration of ethnic Indians to the island only began with the founding of modern Singapore by the British in 1819. Initially, the Indian population was transient, mainly comprising young men who came as workers, soldiers and convicts. By the mid-20th century, a settled community had emerged, with a more balanced sex ratio, gender ratio and a better demographic profile, spread of age groups. Tamil is one among the four official languages of Singapore alongside English, Chinese and Malay.
Singapore's Indian population is notable for its class stratification, with disproportionately large elite and Working class, lower income groups. This long-standing problem has grown more visible since the 1990s with an influx of both well-educated and unskilled migrants from India, and as part of growing income inequality in Singapore. Indians earn Household income in Singapore, higher incomes than Malays, the other major minority group. Indians are also significantly more likely to hold university degrees than these groups. However, the mainly locally born Indian students in public primary and secondary schools under-perform the national average at major examinations.
Singapore Indians are linguistically and religiously diverse, with South Indians and Hindus forming majorities. Indian culture has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. By the mid to late 20th century, it had become somewhat distinct from contemporary South Asian cultures, even as Indian elements became diffused within a broader culture of Singapore, Singaporean culture. Since the 1990s, new Indian immigrants have increased the size and complexity of the local Indian population. Together with modern communications like cable television and the Internet, this has connected Singapore with an emerging global Indian culture.
Prominent Indian individuals have long made a mark in Singapore as leaders of various fields in national life. Indians are also collectively well-represented, and sometimes over-represented, in areas such as Politics of Singapore, politics, education in Singapore, education, foreign relations of Singapore, diplomacy and the law in Singapore, law.
There is also a small community of Indian origin, the Chitty, who are the descendants of Tamil traders who had emigrated before 1500 CE. Considering themselves Tamil, speaking Tamil, and practice Hinduism, the Chittys number about 2,000 today.
Caribbean
From 1838 to 1917, over half a million Indians from the former British Raj, British India, were brought to the
Caribbean as Indian indenture system, indentured laborers to address the demand for labour following the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, abolition of slavery. The first two ships arrived in British Guiana (now
Guyana) on 5 May 1838.
The majority of the Indians living in the Anglophone Caribbean, English-speaking Caribbean and
Suriname migrated from the Bhojpuri region, Bhojpur region in present-day eastern
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, western
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
and northwestern Jharkhand and the Awadh region in eastern Uttar Pradesh, while a significant minority came from South India. Most of the Indians brought to
Guadeloupe,
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
and French Guiana were mostly from
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, Telangana, and other parts of South India. A minority emigrated from other parts of South Asia. Other Indo-Caribbean people are descend from or are later migrants, including Indian doctors, businessmen, and other professionals. Many of them being of
Sindhi, Punjabis, Punjabi,
Gujarati, Kutchi people, Kutchi, Bengali people, Bengali, Tamil people, Tamil, and Telugu people, Telugu origin. Many Indo-Caribbeans have further migrated and settled to other countries, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France, with sizable populations in the Metropolitan area, metropolitan areas of New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Toronto Area, Toronto, Miami metropolitan area, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Greater Orlando, Orlando-Ocala metropolitan area, Ocala, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tampa Bay area, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, Winnipeg, Greater Montreal, Montreal, Vancouver metropolitan area, Vancouver, Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Washington metropolitan area, Washington, D.C., Schenectady, New York, Schenectady, Calgary Metropolitan Region, Calgary, London metropolitan area, London, Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, Rotterdam-Den Haag, and Amsterdam metropolitan area, Amsterdam.
Indo-Caribbeans are the largest ethnic group in Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. They are the second largest group in Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other countries. There are small populations of them in Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, French Guiana, Grenada, Panama, Guatemala, St. Lucia, Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and the Netherlands Antilles.
Europe
Netherlands and Suriname
There are around 120,000 people of Indian origin in the Netherlands, 90% of whom migrated from the former Dutch colony of Suriname, where their forefathers were brought as workers to farm and tend to crops in the former Dutch colonies.
Indo-Surinamese are nationals of Suriname of Indian or other South Asian ancestry. After the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers, Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured labourers, many from the modern-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the surrounding regions. Just before and just after the independence of Suriname on 25 November 1975 many Indo-Surinamese emigrated to the Netherlands.
During the heyday of British rule in India, many people from India were sent to other British colonies for work. In the Dutch colony of Suriname, the Dutch were allowed by the British Raj to recruit labourers in certain parts of the North-Indian United Provinces. Today, Europe's largest Hindu temple is currently situated in The Hague.
United Kingdom
![Chancellor Rishi Sunak (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Chancellor_Rishi_Sunak_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The Indian emigrant community in the United Kingdom is now in its third generation. Indians in the UK are the largest community outside of Asia proportionally, and the second largest in terms of population, only surpassed by the United States, and closely followed by Canada. The first wave of Indians in the United Kingdom worked as manual labourers and were not respected within society. However, this has changed considerably. On the whole, third and fourth generation immigrants are proving to be very successful, especially in the fields of law, business and medicine.
Indian culture has been constantly referenced within the wider British culture, at first as an "exotic" influence in films like ''My Beautiful Laundrette'', but now increasingly as a familiar feature in films like ''Bend It Like Beckham''.
The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded 1,451,862 people of Indian ethnicity resident in the UK (not including those who categorised themselves as of mixed ethnicity).
The main ethnic groups are Gujaratis, Punjabis, Bengalis, Hindi Belt, Hindi-speaking people, Tamils, Telugu people, Telugus, Malayalis, Goans, Goan-Konkani people, Konkanis, Sindhis, Marathi people, Marathis, and Anglo-Indians.
Hindus comprise 49% of the British Indian population, Sikhs 22.1%, Muslims 13.9%, Christians nearly 10%, with the remainder made up of Jains (15,000), Parsis (Zoroastrians), and Buddhists.
Most Indians in the United Kingdom have settled in London, the Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and the South East. Their presence in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other regions is not as large. The first generation of immigrants were to be found in the east-end of London, which was traditionally the poorest area of London, however, due to gentrification, this is no longer the case.
There are 2,360,000 people currently speaking Indian languages in the United Kingdom. Punjabi language, Punjabi is now the second most widely spoken language in the United Kingdom,
and the most frequently spoken language among school pupils who do not have English as a first language. In 2019, the first ever Indian diaspora think tank was created, as a charity, called Bridge India.
Rishi Sunak is set to become the first British Indian (non-white) Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in October 2022.
North America
Search terms can be confusing, because some of the indigenous people of the Americas are referred to, either legally or informally, as Indians. See for example Indian Act, Indian Register, Indian reserves.
Canada
![Lilly_Singh_by_Gage_Skidmore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Lilly_Singh_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
According to Statistics Canada, via the 2021 Canadian census, 1,858,755 persons classified themselves as being of Indian origin, comprising approximately 5.1% of the total Canadian population. Unlike in India however, representation of various minority religious groups is much higher amongst the Indo-Canadian population. For instance in India, Sikhs comprise 2% and Christians 2.2% of the population of India, Hindus 80% and Muslims 14%. In 2011, Sikhism, Sikhs represented 35%,
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s represented 28%, Muslims 17%, Christianity, Christians 16% of the total people of Indian origin in Canada.
A Punjabi community has existed in British Columbia, Canada, for over 120 years. The first known Indian settlers in Canada were Indian Army soldiers who had passed through Canada in 1897 on their way home from attending Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration in London, England. Some are believed to have remained in British Columbia and others returned there later. Punjabi Indians were attracted to the possibilities for farming and forestry. They were mainly male
Sikhs who were seeking work opportunities. Indo-Caribbeans, descendants of the Indian indentured workers who had gone to the Caribbean since 1838, made an early appearance in Canada with the arrival of the Trinidadian medical student Kenneth Mahabir and the Demerara (now Guyana) clerk M N Santoo, both in 1908.
The first Indian immigrants in British Columbia allegedly faced widespread racism from the majority Anglo community. Race riots targeted these immigrants, as well as new Chinese immigrants. Most decided to return to India, while a few stayed behind. The Canadian government prevented these men from bringing their wives and children until 1919, another reason why many of them chose to leave. Quotas were established to prevent many Indians from moving to Canada in the early 20th century. These quotas allowed fewer than 100 people from India a year until 1957, when the number was increased to 300. In 1967, all quotas were scrapped. Immigration was then based on a point system, thus allowing many more Indians to enter. Since this open-door policy was adopted, Indians continue to come in large numbers, and roughly 25,000-30,000 arrive each year, which now makes Indians the second highest group immigrating to Canada each year, after the Chinese.
Most Indians choose to emigrate to larger urban centres like Toronto, and Vancouver, where more than 70% live. Smaller communities are also growing in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, and Winnipeg. A place called Punjabi Market, Vancouver, Little India exists in South Vancouver and a section of Gerrard Street (Toronto), Gerrard Street in Toronto as well. Indians in Vancouver live mainly in the suburb of Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, or nearby Abbotsford, British Columbia, Abbotsford but are also found in other parts of Vancouver. The vast majority of Vancouver Indians are of Punjabi Sikh origin and have taken significant roles in politics and other professions, with several Supreme Court of British Columbia, Supreme Court Judge, justices, three Attorney General, attorneys general and one provincial premier hailing from the community. Both Gurmant Grewal and his wife Nina Grewal were the first married couple in Canada to be concurrently elected as Member of Parliament in 2004. The most read newspaper in the Indian community is ''The Asian Star'' and ''The Punjabi Star'' based in Vancouver started by an immigrant from Mumbai-Shamir Doshi.
The Greater Toronto Area contains the second largest population of Indian descent in North America, enumerating 572,250 residents of Indian origin as of 2011, surpassed only by the 592,888 estimate by the 2011 American Community Survey (and 659,784 in 2013
) for the New York City Combined Statistical Area. Note, however, that the Toronto count (but not the New York count) includes individuals of West Indian/Indo-Caribbean descent. Compared to the Vancouver area, Toronto's Indian community is much more linguistically and religiously diverse with large communities of Gujaratis, Bengalis, Malayalis, and Tamils, including Tamil ethnic minority from Sri Lanka, as well as more Indians who are
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, Sikh and Muslim than Vancouver. From Toronto, Canadian carrier Air Canada operates non-stop flights to Delhi and Mumbai.
United States
File:Bhardwaj usn2001.jpg, Mohini Bhardwaj, was a member of United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics, US Gymnastic Women's Team at 2004 Summer Olympics, which earned a silver medal in Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic team all-around, women's artistic team all-around competition and is a member of USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the second Indian Americans, Indian American Olympic medalist.
File:Raj Bhavsar.jpg, alt=aaaa, Raj Bhavsar was a member of United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics, US Gymnastic Men's Team at 2008 Summer Olympics that earned a bronze medal in Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around, men's artistic team all-around competition. He is the third American Olympic medalist of Indian Americans, Indian ancestry
File:Ram RG18 (9) (28110272897).jpg, United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Team USA's Rajeev Ram won a silver medal in Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Mixed doubles, Mixed doubles Tennis at 2016 Summer Olympics with Venus Williams, the fourth American athlete of Indian ancestry, to win an Olympic medal.
![Kalpana Chawla, NASA photo portrait in orange suit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Kalpana_Chawla%2C_NASA_photo_portrait_in_orange_suit.jpg)
The United States has the largest Indian population in the world outside Asia. Indian immigration to North America started as early as the 1890s. Emigration to the United States also started in the late 19th and early 20th century, when
Sikhs arriving in Vancouver found that the fact that they were subjects of the British Empire did not mean anything in Canada itself, and they were blatantly discriminated against.
Some of these pioneers entered the US or landed in Seattle and San Francisco as the ships that carried them from Asia often stopped at these ports. Most of these immigrants were Sikhs from the Punjab region.
Asian women were restricted from immigrating because the US government passed laws in 1917, at the behest of California and other states in the west, which had experienced a large influx of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian immigrants during and after the gold rush. As a result, many of the South Asian men in California married Mexican women. A fair number of these families settled in the Central Valley in California as farmers, and continue to this day. These early immigrants were denied voting rights, family re-unification and citizenship. In 1923 the Supreme Court of the United States, in ''United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind'', ruled that people from India (at the time, British India, e.g. South Asians) were ineligible for citizenship. Bhagat Singh Thind was a Sikh from India who settled in Oregon; he had applied earlier for citizenship and was rejected there. Thind became a citizen a few years later in New York.
After World War II, US immigration policy changed, after almost a half century, to allow family re-unification for people of non-white origin. In addition, Asians were allowed to become citizens and to vote. Many men who arrived before the 1940s were finally able to bring their families to the US; most of them in this earlier era settled in California and other west coast states.
Another wave of Indian immigrants entered the US after independence of India. A large proportion of them were Sikhs joining their family members under the newly more (though not completely) colour-blind immigration laws, then Malayali immigrants from Middle East, Kerala, etc. and professionals or students came from all over India. The Cold War created a need for engineers in the defence and aerospace industries, some of whom came from India. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, large numbers of
Gujarati, Telugu people, Telugu, and Tamil people, Tamil people had settled in the US. The most recent and probably the largest wave of immigration to date occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s during the internet boom. As a result, Indians in the US are now one of the largest among the groups of immigrants with an estimated population of about 3.2 million, or ~1.0% of the US population according to American Community Survey of 2010 data.
The demographics of Indian Americans have accordingly changed from majority Sikh to majority Hindu, with Sikhs only comprising 10% to 20% of Indian Americans today. This is much smaller than the proportion of Sikhs amongst the Indian populations in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but larger than in India. In 2018, with 25% of the population of all non-resident migrants in the US, Indians made up the highest number of non-resident migrants (those without US citizenship or green card).
[Every 4th non-resident foreign national in US in 2016 an Indian: Report](_blank)
, The Tribune India, 18 September 2019 The US Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with the indigenous peoples of the Americas commonly referred to as American Indians.
![Percent of population claiming Asian Indian ethnicity by state in 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Percent_of_population_claiming_Asian_Indian_ethnicity_by_state_in_2010.svg)
In contrast to the earliest groups of Indians who entered the US workforce as taxi drivers, labourers, farmers, or small business owners, the later arrivals often came as professionals or completed graduate studies in the US and moved into professional occupations. They have become very successful financially thanks to highly technical industries, and are thus probably the most well-off community of immigrants. They are well represented in all walks of life, but particularly so in academia, information technology, and medicine.
There were over 4,000 PIO professors and 84,000 Indianborn students in American universities in 2007–08. The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin has a membership of 35,000. In 2000, ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at around $250 billion. Many IT companies like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Adobe Inc., Adobe and IBM have CEOs of Indian origin.
![Fcc2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Fcc2.jpg)
Patel Brothers is the world’s large supermarket chain serving the Overseas Indians, Indian diaspora, with 57 locations in 19 U.S. states—primarily located in the Indians in the New York City metropolitan area, New Jersey/New York Metropolitan Area, due to its large Indians in the New York City metropolitan area, Indian population, and with the East Windsor, New Jersey, East Windsor/Monroe Township, New Jersey location representing the world’s largest and busiest Indian grocery store outside India.
The New York City Metropolitan Area, including Manhattan, Queens, and Nassau County, New York, Nassau County in New York State, and most of New Jersey, is home to, by far, the largest Indian population in the United States,
estimated at 679,173 as of 2014.
Though the Indian diaspora in the US is largely concentrated in metropolitan areas surrounding cities such as New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – almost every metropolitan area in the United States has a community of Indians.
Oceania
Australia
At the 2016 Australian census, 619,164 people stated that they had Indian ancestry, of which 455,389 were born in India, with people from India making up the third largest immigrant population in the country and the second most popular country of origin for new migrants from 2016.
Before roads and road transport were developed, many Indians had come to Australia to run camel trains. They would transport goods and mail via camels in the desert. Some of the earliest Punjabi arrivals in Australia included Kareem Bux, who came as a hawker to Bendigo in 1893, Sardar Beer Singh Johal, who came in 1895 and Sardar Narain Singh Heyer, who arrived in 1898. Many Punjabis took part in the rush for gold on the Victorian fields.
Indians also entered Australia in the first half of the 20th century when both Australia and India were both British colonies. Indian Sikhs came to work on the banana plantations in Southern Queensland. Today many of them live in the town of Woolgoolga (a town lying roughly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane). Some of these Indians, the descendants of Sikh plantation workers, now own banana farms in the area. There are two Sikh temples in Woolgoolga, one of which has a museum dedicated to Sikhism. Many Britons and Anglo-Indians born in India migrated to Australia after 1947. These British citizens decided to settle in Australia in large numbers but are still counted as Indian Nationals in the census. The third wave of Indians entered the country in the 1970s and 80s after the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973 with many Indian teachers, doctors and other professional public service occupations settling in Australia accompanied by many IT professionals.
After successive military coups in Fiji of 1987 and 2000, a significant number of Fijian-Indians migrated to Australia; as such there is a large Fijian-Indian population in Australia. Fijian-Indians have significantly changed the character of the Indian community in Australia. While most earlier Indian migration was by educated professionals, the Fijian-Indian community was also largely by professionals but also brought many small business owners and entrepreneurs.
The current wave of Indian migration is that of engineers, toolmakers, Gujarati business families from East Africa and relatives of settled Indians. Starved of government funding, Australian education institutes are recruiting full fee paying overseas students. Many universities have permanent representatives stationed in India and other Asian countries. Their efforts have been rewarded with a new influx of Indian students entering Australia. The total number of student visas granted to Indian students for 2006–2007 was 34,136; a significant rise from 2002 to 2003, when 7,603 student visas were granted to Indian students.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 87% of Indians residing in Australia are under the age of 50, and over 83% are proficient in English.
Fiji
Indo-Fijians are Fijians whose ancestors came mainly from
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
, while a very small minority hailed from
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
and
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
. Later on, a small population of Gujaratis, Punjabis and Bengalis emigrated to
Fiji. They number (37.6%) (2007 census) out of a total of people living in Fiji. They are mostly descended from indentured labourers, ''girmitiyas'' or ''girmit'', brought to the islands by the British colonial government of Fiji between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. Music has featured prominently in Indo-Fijian culture, with a distinctive genre emerging in the first decades of the 20th century that some claim influenced early jazz musicians. One of the Indo-Fijian jazz pioneers in the early evolution of this distinct ethnic art-form, Ravinda Banjeeri, likened the struggle to be heard through music as "like a bear emerging from a dark wood, listening to twigs snapping in an otherwise silent forest". The Indo-Fijians have fought for equal rights, although with only limited success. Many have left Fiji in search of better living conditions and social justice and this exodus has gained pace with the series of coups starting in the late 1980s.
New Zealand
![Anand Satyanand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Anand_Satyanand.JPG)
Indians began to arrive in New Zealand in the late eighteenth century, mostly as crews on Royal Navy] warships. The earliest known Indians to set foot in Aotearoa New Zealand were Muslim lascars who arrived in Dec 1769 on the ship ''Saint Jean Baptiste'' captained by Frenchman Jean François Marie de Surville sailing from Pondicherry, India.
Their arrival marks the beginning of Indian presence in New Zealand, in which hundreds of unnamed South Asian lascars visited New Zealand on European ships in order to procure timber and seal skins.
The period of Indian settlement begins with the earliest known Indian resident of New Zealand, a lascar of Bengali descent from the visiting ship ''City of Edinburgh'' who jumped ship in 1809 in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, Bay of Islands to live with a Māori people, Māori wife. Numbers slowly increased through the 19th and 20th centuries, despite a law change in 1899 that was designed to keep out people who were not of "British birth and parentage". As in many other countries, Indians in New Zealand, also called "Indo-Kiwis," dispersed throughout the country and had a high rate of small business ownership, particularly fruit and vegetable shops and convenience stores. At this stage most Indian New Zealanders originated from Gujarat and the Punjab. Changes in immigration policy in the 1980s allowed many more Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis into the country. Today, South Asians from all over the subcontinent live and work in New Zealand, with small numbers involved in both local and national politics. Notable Indian New Zealanders include former Dunedin mayor Sukhi Turner, cricketers Dipak Patel (cricketer, born 1958), Dipak Patel and Jeetan Patel, singer Aaradhna, Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan and former Governor General of New Zealand, Governor General Anand Satyanand
West Asia
Armenia
There are over 28,000 Indian citizens in Armenia, including those who are seeking permanent residence status in Armenia, as recorded in 2018. In the first half of 2018, 10,237 Indians crossed Armenia's borders, and more than 2,000 were seeking permanent residence status.
Israel
The Bene Israel ( he, בני ישראל, "Sons of Israel") are an ancient group of Jews who migrated in the 18th century from villages in the Konkan area to nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. In the second half of the 20th century, most of them aliyah, emigrated to Israel, where they now number about 85,000. The native language of the Bene Israel is Judæo-Marathi, a form of Marathi.
Another prominent community that migrated to Israel after its creation were the Jews of Cochin, in Kerala (Cochin Jews) – a community with a very long history. They are known to have been granted protection by the king of the Princely State of Cochin. The earliest Jews in this region, as per local tradition, date to as early as 379 CE. The community was a mix of native Jews (called "Black Jews"), and European Jews (called "White Jews") who had emigrated to Cochin after the successive European conquests of Cochin. The Jewish community of Cochin spoke a variant of Malayalam, called Judeo-Malayalam. The community, after the creation of Israel, saw a mass exodus from Cochin, and is presently facing extinction in India.
Still another group of Indians to arrive in Israel belong to the Bnei Menashe ("Children of Tribe of Manasseh, Menasseh", Hebrew בני מנשה) a group of more than 10,000 people from India's Seven Sister States, North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram, who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes, Lost Tribes of Israel, and of whom about 3,700 now live in Israel (some of them in Israeli settlements on the West Bank). Linguistically, Bnei Menashe are Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burmans and belong to the Mizo people, Mizo, Kuki people, Kuki and Chin peoples (the terms are virtually interchangeable). The move to convert them to Judaism and bring them to Israel is politically controversial in both India and Israel.
Persian Gulf
Indians command a dominant majority of the population Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Persian Gulf countries. After the 1970s oil boom in the Middle East, numerous Indians from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
emigrated, taking advantage of close historical ties with the 'Gulf' as well as the lack of ample skilled labour from nearby
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the Middle East. Major urban centers such as
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama were experiencing a development boom and thousands of Indians labored in construction industries.
This work was done on a contractual basis rather than permanently, and working age men continued to return home every few years. This has remained the dominant pattern as the countries in the Persian Gulf, especially United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, Qatar and Kuwait have a common policy of not naturalising non-Arabs, even if they are born there.
The Persian Gulf region has provided incomes many times over for the same type of job in India and has geographical proximity to India, and these incomes are free of taxation. The NRIs make up a good proportion of the working class in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). NRI population in these Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC countries is estimated to be around 20 million, of which a quarter is resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 2005, about 75% of the population in the UAE was of Indian descent. The majority originate from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and Goa. Similarly, Indians are the single largest nationality in Qatar, representing around 85% of the total population as of 2014.
They also form majorities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman.
Since the early-2000s, significant number of Indians have reached the region, taking up high skill jobs in business and industry. Major Indian corporations maintain solid regional presence there while some are headquartered there.
There is a huge population of NRIs in West Asia, most coming from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
and
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. They work as engineers, doctors, lawyers, labourers and in clerical jobs. Unlike in Europe and America, most of the countries in West Asia do not grant citizenship or permanent residency to these Indians, however long they might live there. They have a minority in Saudi Arabia. The NRI population tends to save and remit considerable amounts to their dependents in India. It is estimated such remittances may be over US$10 billion per annum (including remittances by formal and informal channels in 2007–2008). The relative ease with which people can travel to their home country means that many NRIs in the Gulf and West Asia maintain close links to Indian culture, with people often travelling twice or thrice a year, especially during holiday period, while some live in India for several months each year. Satellite television allows many NRIs to consume Indian media and entertainment, and there are TV soaps aimed at the NRI community in the Gulf countries. Live performances and cultural events, such as Tiatr, Tiarts for Goans living in UAE, occur quite often and are staged by community groups.
Diaspora by state and ethnolinguistic regions of India
* Bengalis, Bengali diaspora
* Gujarati people, Gujarati diaspora
* Kannada people#Horanadu Kannadiga, Kannadiga diaspora
* Kashmiri diaspora
* Maharashtra Mandal, Maharashtrian diaspora
* Malayali diaspora
* Non-resident Odia, Odia diaspora
* Punjabi diaspora
* Romani diaspora
* Saraiki diaspora
* Sindhi diaspora
* South Indian diaspora
* Tamil diaspora
* Telugu diaspora
Diaspora by region
European colonial era diaspora
* Girmityas and Coolie#Indian coolies, Coolies
** Indo-Caribbeans
***Indians in Barbados, Indo-Barbadian
***Indo-Belizeans
***Indians in French Guiana
*** Indo-Grenadians
*** Indo-Guadeloupeans
*** Indo-Guyanese
*** Indo-Jamaicans
*** Indo-Martiniquais
*** Indians in Saint Kitts and Nevis
*** Indo-Saint Lucian
*** Indo-Surinamese
***Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian
*** Indians in the United States Virgin Islands
*** Indo-Vincentian
** Indo-Fijians
**Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa
*** Indians in Botswana
*** Indians in Kenya
*** Indians in Madagascar
*** Mauritians of Indian origin
*** Indians in Mozambique
*** Réunionnais of Indian origin
*** Indo-Seychellois
*** Indians in South Africa
*** Indians in Tanzania
*** Indians in Uganda
*** Indians in Zambia
*** Indians in Zimbabwe
** Malaysian Indians
**Indian Singaporeans
Mixed Indians
* Chindians
*Dougla people
* Anglo-Indian people
* Eurasian Singaporeans
* Irish Indians
* Luso-Indian
*Macanese people
* Scottish-Indian
Diaspora by religions
Indian-origin religions
The diaspora of Indian religions, indic religions are:
* Jain communities#Diaspora, Jain diaspora
* Sikh diaspora
* Buddhist diaspora
** Tibetan diaspora
* Hindu diaspora
** Balinese Hindu diaspora
** Hinduism in Vietnam#Cham Hindus, Vietnamese Balamon Cham Hindu diaspora
** Bengali Hindu diaspora
Foreign-origin religions
* Jews diaspora
**Bnei Menashe, Bnei Menashe diaspora
* Muslims diaspora
**Indian Muslim Diaspora, Indian Muslim diaspora
**Ahmadiyya, Ahmadiyya diaspora
Impact of Indian diaspora
Influence in India
Overseas Indians' Day
Since 2003, the ''Pravasi Bharatiya Divas'' (Overseas Indians' Day) sponsored by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, is celebrated in India on 9 January each year, to "mark the contributions of the Overseas Indian community in the development of India". The day commemorates the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in India from South Africa, and during a three-day convention held around the day, a forum for issues concerning the Indian diaspora is held and the annual ''Pravasi Bharatiya Samman'' Awards are bestowed.
As of December 2005, the Indian government has introduced the "Overseas Citizenship of India, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)" scheme to allow a limited form of dual citizenship to Indians, NRIs, and PIOs for the first time since independence in 1947. The PIO Card scheme is expected to be phased out in coming years in favour of the OCI programme.
Impact on India's hard and soft power
Indian diaspora has significant impact on the globalisation of economy of India, especially in the following areas:
* Remittance#Top recipient countries, Current top recipient of remittance, India has been ranked first for several years.
**Remittances to India
** Foreign-exchange reserves of India
* Foreign trade of India
** List of exports of India, Exports of India
*** Business process outsourcing to India
*** H-1B visa, over 80% of all these visas are granted to Indian IT professionals
** List of chief executive officers, Indian origin CEOs of top global multinational companies
** List of the largest trading partners of India, Largest trading partners of India
Impact on other nations
Expansion of Indian soft power
Generations of diaspora have enhanced India's soft power through proliferation of elements of Indian culture. With expansion of Indosphere cultural influence of Greater India,
through transmission of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
leading to Indianization of Southeast Asia through formation of non-Indian southeast Asian native Indianized kingdoms which adopted Sanskritization, sanskritized language
and other Indian elements such as the Indian honorifics, honorific titles, Indian name#Global Indian influence in names, naming of people, Place names in India#Global Indian influence in place name, naming of places, mottos of List of institutions with Sanskrit mottos, organisations and List of educational institutions with Sanskrit mottos, educational institutes as well as adoption of Hindu temple architecture#Southeast Asia as part of Greater India, Indian architecture, Indian martial arts#Influence, martial arts, Music of India#Global, Indian music and dance, Clothing in India, traditional Indian clothing, and Indian cuisine#Outside India, Indian cuisine, a process which has also been aided by the ongoing historic expansion of Indian diaspora.
Expansion of Indian hard power
=Diaspora organisation and political lobby groups
=
* Global Organization for People of Indian Origin
* List of foreign politicians of Indian origin, Indian origin politicians in other nations
* Overseas Citizenship of India, Overseas Citizens of India
=Relations with other diasporas
=
Political lobbying groups of Indian diaspora influence the foreign policies of other nations in India's favor. Indian diaspora's lobby groups especially collaborate well with the influential Jewish diaspora in the Western World for creating favorable outcome for India and Israel. Indian diaspora has good relations with most other diasporas, including its offshoot Bangladeshi diaspora, Bangladeshi and Pakistani diasporas, as well all other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, SAARC neighbors such as Afghan diaspora, Afghan, Bhutanese Americans, Bhutanese, Burmese diaspora, Burmese, Nepali diaspora, Nepali. Sri Lankan diaspora, Sri Lankan, and Tibetan diasporas.
Cultural, economic and political impact on other nations
In Australia, Indian Australians and India were the largest source of new permanent Immigration to Australia, migrants to Australia in 2017–2018, and Indians were the most educated migrant group in Australia with 54.6% of Indian migrants in Australia holding a bachelor's or higher educational degree, which is more than three times Australia's national average of 17.2% in 2011.
In Britain, British Indians are the largest Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom, ethnic minority population in the country,
with the highest average hourly pay rate and the lowest poverty rate among all ethnic groups,
[UK Government]
"Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Work, Pay and Benefits: Average Hourly Pay"
and are more likely to be employed in professional and managerial occupations than other ethnic groups.
[UK Government]
"Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Work, Pay and Benefits: Employment by Occupation"
Rishi Sunak is the first British Indian (non-white) Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 2022.
In Canada, Indo-Canadians are the second largest non-European ethnic group and one of the fastest growing ethnic communities in the country.
In New Zealand, Indian New Zealanders are the fastest growing Kiwi ethnic group,
and are the second largest group of Asians in New Zealand with a population of 174,000 Indians in 2014.
Fiji Hindi is the fourth largest language in New Zealand.
In the United States, Indian Americans are the third largest Asian American ethnic group behind Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans,
by far the richest and most educated ethnic group in the USA compared to all other ethnic groups, earning $101,591 median income per year compared to $51,000 and $56,000 for overall immigrant and native-born households in 2015,
with the lowest poverty rate compared to other foreign-born and U.S. born ethnic groups. Overall, Indians are also more educated than other ethnic groups with an average of 32% and 40% of Indians holding a bachelor's degree and postgraduate degree respectively, compared to the 30% and 21% average of all Asians in the United States, and the 19% and 11% average of Americans overall.
15.5% of all Silicon Valley startups by 2006 were founded by Indian immigrants, and Indian migrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from the UK, China, Taiwan and Japan combined. Over 80% of all H-1B visas are granted to Indian IT professionals and 23% of all Indian business school graduates in USA take up a job in United States.
Issues
Demand for dual citizenship in India by PIO and NRIs
Coinciding with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
's Australia visit in November 2014, the Indian community in Australia had launched an online campaign, appealing to him to grant dual citizenship to overseas Indians. The petition has also sought granting Indian passports to overseas citizens of Indian heritage with full political and economic rights, granting of convenient voting rights to such dual passport-holding overseas Indians as well as overseas Indians with Indian passports (NRIs), which can be exercised either at the consulate, high commission or embassy premises in their country of residence and through postal or online facilities.
See also
*
Overseas Citizenship of India
* List of foreign politicians of Indian origin, Politicians of Indian descent
* Indian nationality law
* Indianisation
* Greater India
* Indosphere
* Anti-Indian sentiment
* Proto-Indo-Europeans
* Indo-Aryan peoples
* Dravidian peoples
* Romani people
* Romani diaspora
References
External links
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of IndiaBureau of immigration IndiaNon-Resident Indians , National Portal of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin
Indian diaspora, Indian diaspora