Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those who settled in the 19th-century Russian possessions in northwestern America. Russian Americans comprise the largest Eastern European and East Slavic population in the U.S., the second-largest Slavic population generally, the nineteenth-largest ancestry group overall, and the eleventh-largest from Europe. In the mid-19th century, waves of Russian immigrants fleeing religious persecution settled in the U.S., including Russian Jews and Spiritual Christians. These groups mainly settled in coastal cities, including Alaska, Brooklyn (New York City) on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon, on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, as well as in Great Lakes cities, such as Chicago and Cleveland. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

of 1917 and the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922, many White émigrés also arrived, especially in New York, Philadelphia, and New England. Emigration from Russia subsequently became very restricted during the Soviet era (1917–1991). However, after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

at the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, immigration to the United States increased considerably. In several major U.S. cities, many Jewish Americans who trace their heritage back to Russia; and Americans of East Slavic origin, such as

Belarusian Americans Belarusian Americans ( be, Беларускія амэрыканцы, ) are Americans who are of total or partial Belarusian ancestry. History There is an assumption that the first Belarusian settlers in the United States, who settled there ...

, and

Rusyn Americans Rusyn Americans ( rue, Русиньскы Америчаны; also known as Carpatho-Rusyn Americans) are citizens of the United States of America, with ancestors who were Rusyns, from Carpathian Ruthenia, or neighboring areas of Central Europe. ...

sometimes identify as Russian Americans. Additionally, certain non-Slavic groups from the

post-Soviet space The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

, such as Armenian Americans,

Georgian Americans Georgian Americans ( ka, ქართველი ამერიკელები, tr) are Americans of full or partial Georgian ancestry. They encompass ethnic Georgians who have immigrated to the U.S. from Georgia, as well as other areas wit ...

, and

Moldovan Americans Moldovan Americans are Americans who are from Moldova or are descended from Moldovans. According to the U.S. 2000 census, there were 7,859 Moldovan Americans in the United States. However, the American Community Survey indicated that the number ...

, have a longstanding historical association with the Russian American community.

Demographics

According to the Institute of Modern Russia in 2011, the Russian American population is estimated to be 3.13 million. The American Community Survey of the U.S. Census shows the total number of people in the U.S. age 5 and over speaking Russian at home to be slightly over 900,000, as of 2020. Many Russian Americans do not speak Russian, having been born in the United States and brought up in English-speaking homes. In 2007, however, Russian was the primary spoken language of 851,174 Americans at home, according to the U.S. Census. According to the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, 750,000 Russian Americans were ethnic Russians in 1990. The

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

has historically been the leading metropolitan gateway for Russian immigrants legally admitted into the United States. Brighton Beach, Brooklyn continues to be the most important demographic and cultural center for the Russian American experience. However, as Russian Americans have climbed in

socioeconomic status Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's economic access to resources and social position in relation to others. When analyzing a family's ...

, the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

from Russia and other former Soviet-bloc states has moved toward more affluent parts of the New York metropolitan area, notably

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey. Within Bergen County, the increasing size of the Russian immigrant presence in its hub of Fair Lawn prompted a 2014 April Fool's satire titled, " Putin Moves Against Fair Lawn". Sometimes

Carpatho-Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic languages, East Slavi ...

and Ukrainians who emigrated from Carpathian Ruthenia in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century identify as Russian Americans. More recent émigrés would often refer to this group as the ''starozhili'' 'old residents'. This group became the pillar of the Russian Orthodox Church in America . Today, most of this group has become assimilated into the local society, with ethnic traditions continuing to survive primarily around the church.

Russian-born population

Russian-born population in the US since 2010:

Social status

The median household income in 2017 for Americans of Russian descent is estimated by the U.S. Census as $80,554

History

Colonial era

Russian America (1733–1867)

The territory that today is the U.S. state of Alaska was settled by Russians and controlled by the Russian Empire; Russian settlers include ethnic Russians but also Russified Ukrainians, Russified Romanians (from Bessarabia), and native Siberians, including Yupik, Mongolic peoples, Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens, and Ainu. In Hawaii there were three forts at

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

. The southernmost such post of the Russian American Company was Fort Ross, established in 1812 by

Ivan Kuskov Ivan Aleksandrovich Kuskov (russian: Иван Александрович Кусков; 1765–1823) was the senior assistant to Aleksandr Baranov, the Chief Administrator of the Russian-American Company (RAC). Biography He was a native of Tot ...

, some north of San Francisco, as an agricultural supply base for Russian America. It was part of the Russian-America Company, and consisted of four outposts, including Bodega Bay, the Russian River, and the Farallon Islands. There was never an established agreement made with the government of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

which produced great tension between the two countries. Spain claimed the land but had never established a colony there. The well-armed Russian Fort prevented Spain from removing the Russians living there. Without the Russians' hospitality, the Spanish colony would have been abandoned because their supplies had been lost when Spanish supply ships sank in a large storm off the South American coast. After the

independence of Mexico The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

, tensions were reduced and trade was established with the new government of Mexican California. Russian America was not a profitable colony because of high transportation costs and the declining animal population. After it was purchased by the United States in 1867, most Russian settlers went back to Russia, but some resettled in southern Alaska and California. Included in these were the first miners and merchants of the California gold rush. All descendants of Russian settlers from Russian Empire, including mixed-race with partial Alaskan Native blood, totally assimilated to the American society. Most Russians in Alaska today are descendants of Russian settlers who came just before, during, and/or after Soviet era; two thirds of the population of town of Alaska named Nikolaevsk are descendants of recent Russian settlers who came in the 1960s.

Immigration to the U.S.

First wave (1870–1915)

The first massive wave of immigration from all areas of Europe to the United States took place in the late 19th century. Although some immigration took place earlier – the most notable example being

Ivan Turchaninov Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov (rus. Иван Васильевич Турчанинов); December 24, 1822 – June 18, 1901) better known by his Anglicised name of John Basil Turchin, was a Union Army brigadier general in the American Civ ...

, who immigrated in 1856 and became a United States Army brigadier general during the Civil War– millions traveled to the new world in the last decade of the 19th century, some for political reasons, some for economic reasons, and some for a combination of both. Between 1820 and 1870 only 7,550 Russians immigrated to the United States, but starting with 1881, immigration rate exceeded 10,000 a year: 593,700 in 1891–1900, 1.6 million in 1901–1910, 868,000 in 1911–1914, and 43,000 in 1915–1917. The most prominent Russian groups that immigrated in this period were groups from Imperial Russia seeking freedom from religious persecution. These included Russian Jews, escaping the 1881–1882

pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

by Alexander III, who moved to New York City and other coastal cities; the Spiritual Christians, treated as heretics at home, who settled largely in the Western United States in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon; two large groups of

Shtundist The Shtundists (russian: Штундисты, ''Shtundisty''; uk, Штундисти, ''Shtundysty''; British: Stundists) are the predecessors of several Evangelical Protestant groups in Ukraine and across the former Post-Soviet states, Soviet Unio ...

s who moved to Virginia and the

Dakotas The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econom ...

, and mostly between 1874 and 1880 German-speaking Anabaptists, Russian Mennonites and Hutterites, who left the Russian Empire and settled mainly in Kansas (Mennonites), the Dakota Territory, and Montana (Hutterites). Finally in 1908–1910, the

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

, persecuted as schismatics, arrived and settled in small groups in California, Oregon (particularly the Willamette Valley region), Pennsylvania, and New York. Immigrants of this wave include Irving Berlin, legend of American songwriting and

André Tchelistcheff André Tchelistcheff (Russian: Андрей Викторович Челищев; December 7, 1901 – April 5, 1994) was America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker. Tchelistcheff is most notable for his contributions toward defining ...

, influential Californian winemaker. Russian immigrant home, N

World War I dealt a heavy blow to Russia. Between 1914 and 1918, starvation and poverty increased in all parts of Russian society, and soon many Russians questioned the War's purpose and the government's competency. The war intensified

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

sentiment. Jews were accused of disloyalty and expelled from areas in and near war zones. Furthermore, much of the fighting between Russia, and Austria and Germany took place in Western Russia in the Jewish Pale of Settlement. World War I uprooted half a million Russian Jews.Gitelman, Zvi. A Century of Ambivalence, The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present. 2nd Ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. Print. Because of the upheavals of World War I, immigration dwindled between 1914 and 1917. But after the war, hundreds of thousands of Jews began leaving Europe and Russia again for the U.S., Israel and other countries where they hoped to start a new life.

Second wave (1916–1922)

A large wave of Russians immigrated in the short time period of 1917–1922, in the wake of October Revolution and Russian Civil War. This group is known collectively as the White émigrés. The U.S. was the third largest destination for those immigrants, after France and Serbia. This wave is often referred to as the first wave, when discussing Soviet era immigration. The head of the Russian Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky, was one of those immigrants. RussianSpeakingBankersChicago1916

Since the immigrants were of the higher classes of the Russian Empire, they contributed significantly to American science and culture. Inventors

Vladimir Zworykin Vladimir Kosma Zworykin; or with the patronymic as ''Kosmich''; or russian: Кузьмич, translit=Kuz'mich, label=none. Zworykin anglicized his name to ''Vladimir Kosma Zworykin'', replacing the patronymic with the name ''Kosma'' as a middle na ...

, often referred to as "father of television",

Alexander M. Poniatoff Alexander Matveevich Poniatoff (russian: Александр Матвеевич Понятов, tr. ''Aleksándr Matvéjevič Ponjatóv''; 25 March 1892 – 24 October 1980) was an American electrical engineer. Poniatoff was born in 1892 in Russkay ...

, the founder of Ampex, and Alexander Lodygin, arrived with this wave. The U.S. military benefited greatly with the arrival of such inventors as Igor Sikorsky (who invented the Helicopter and Aerosan),

Vladimir Yourkevitch Vladimir Yourkevitch (russian: Владимир Иванович Юркевич, also spelled Yourkevich, 1885 in Moscow – December 13, 1964) was a Russian naval engineer, and a designer of the ocean liner SS ''Normandie''. He worked in Ru ...

, and

Alexander Procofieff de Seversky Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Проко́фьев-Се́верский) (June 7, 1894 – August 24, 1974) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, inventor, and inf ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

are by many considered to be among the greatest composers ever to live in the United States of America. The novelist Vladimir Nabokov, the violinist

Jasha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

, and the actor Yul Brynner also left Russia in this period. As with first and second wave, if the White émigré left Russia to any country, they were still considered first or second wave, even if they ended up moving to another country, including the US at a later time. There was no 'strict' year boundaries, but a guideline to have a better understanding of the time period. Thus, 1917-1922 is a guideline. There are Russians who are considered second wave even if they arrived after 1922 up to 1948.

Soviet era (1922–1991)

During the Soviet era, emigration was prohibited, and limited to very few defectors and dissidents who immigrated to the United States of America and other Western Bloc countries for political reasons. Immigration to the U.S. from Russia was also severely restricted via the

National Origins formula National Origins Formula is an umbrella term for a series of qualitative immigration quotas in America used from 1921 to 1965, which restricted immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere on the basis of national origin. These restrictions included l ...

introduced by the U.S. Congress in 1921. The chaos and depression that plagued Europe following the conclusion of World War II drove many native Europeans to immigrate to the United States. After the war, there were about 7 million displaced persons ranging from various countries throughout continental Europe. Of these 7 million, 2 million were Russian citizens that were sent back to the U.S.S.R. to be imprisoned, exiled, or even executed having been accused of going against their government and country. Roughly 20,000 Russian citizens immigrated to the United States immediately following the conclusion of the war. Following the war, tensions between the United States and the then Soviet Union began to rise to lead to the U.S.S.R. placing an immigration ban on its citizens in 1952. The immigration ban effectively prevented any citizen or person under the U.S.S.R. from immigrating to the United States. This came after a large percentage of Russian immigrants left for the United States specifically leaving the U.S.S.R. embarrassed at the high percentage of Russian citizens emigrating. After the immigration ban was placed into effect, any Russian citizen that attempted to or planned to leave Russia was stripped of citizenship, barred from having any contact with any remaining relatives in the U.S.S.R., and would even make it illegal for that individual's name to be spoken. Some fled the Communist regime, such as Vladimir Horowitz in 1925 or

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

in 1926, or were deported by it, such as

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

in 1972, or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1974, some were communists themselves, and left in fear of prosecution, such as NKVD operative Alexander Orlov who escaped the purge in 1938 or

Svetlana Alliluyeva Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva, born Stalina (); ka, სვეტლანა იოსების ასული ალილუევა () (28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only ...

, daughter of Joseph Stalin, who left in 1967. Some were diplomats and military personnel who defected to sell their knowledge, such as the pilots Viktor Belenko in 1976 and Aleksandr Zuyev in 1989. Following the international condemnation of the Soviet reaction to Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair in 1970, the Soviet Union temporarily loosened emigration restrictions for Jewish emigrants, which allowed nearly 250,000 people leave the country, escaping covert antisemitism. Some went to Israel, especially at the beginning, but most chose the US as their destination, where they received the status of

political refugees The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

. This lasted for about a decade, until very early 1980s. Emigrants included the family of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which moved to the US in 1979, citing the impossibility of an advanced scientific career for a Jew. By the 1970s, relations between the U.S.S.R. and the United States began to improve and the U.S.S.R. relaxed its immigration ban, permitting a few thousand citizens to immigrate to the United States. However, just as had happened 20 years prior, the U.S.S.R. saw hundreds of thousands of its citizens immigrate to the United States during the 70s. The Soviet Union then created the “diploma tax” which charged any person that had studied in Russia and was trying to emigrate a hefty fine. This was mainly done to deter Soviet Jews who tended to be scientists and other valued intellects from emigrating to Israel or the West. Due to the U.S.S.R. suppressing its citizens from fleeing the U.S.S.R., the United States passed the Jason-Vanik of 1974 penalized the U.S.S.R. The Jason-Vanik agreement was a part of the 1974 Trade Act. The agreement stipulated that the United States would review the record of human rights before permitting any special trade agreements with countries with non-market economies. As a result, the U.S.S.R. was pressured into allowing those citizens that wanted to flee the U.S.S.R. for the United States to do so, with a cap on the number of citizens allowed to leave per year. The Jason-Vanik agreement made it possible for the religious minorities of the U.S.S.R. such as Roman-Catholics, Evangelical Christians, and Jews to immigrate to the United States. This agreement effectively kept immigration from the U.S.S.R. to the United States open and as a result, from 1980 to 2008 some 1 million peoples immigrated from the former Soviet Union to the United States. The 1970s witnessed 51,000 Soviet Jews emigrate to the United States, a majority after the Trade Agreement of 1974 was passed. The majority of the Soviet Jews that emigrated to the United States went to Cleveland. Here, chain migration began to unfold as more Soviet Jews emigrated after the 1970s, concentrating in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland. The majority of Soviet Jews that had arrived were educated and held college degrees. These new immigrants would go onto work in important industrial businesses in the city such as BP America and General Electric Co. Other Russian and later post-Soviet immigrants found work in the Cleveland Orchestra or the Cleveland Institute of Music as professional musicians and singers. The slow Brezhnev stagnation of the 1970s and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

's following political reforms since the mid-1980s prompted an increase of economic immigration to the United States, where artists and athletes defected or legally emigrated to the US to further their careers: ballet stars

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...

in 1974 and

Alexander Godunov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

in 1979, composer

Maxim Shostakovich Maxim Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (russian: Макси́м Дми́триевич Шостако́вич; born 10 May 1938 in Leningrad) is a Soviet, Russian and American conductor and pianist. He is the second child of the composer Dmitri Shostako ...

in 1981, hockey star Alexander Mogilny in 1989 and the entire

Russian Five The Russian Five was the nickname given to the unit of five Russian ice hockey players from the Soviet Union that played for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League in the 1990s. The five players were Sergei Fedorov, Vladimir Konstan ...

later, gymnast

Vladimir Artemov Vladimir Nikolaevich Artemov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Артемов, born 7 December 1964) is a former Russian gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion who competed for the Soviet Union. He is considered to be one of ...

in 1990, glam metal band Gorky Park in 1987, and many others.

Post-Soviet era (1991–present)

With

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

, a mass Jewish emigration restarted in 1987. The numbers grew very sharply, leading to the United States forbidding entry to those emigrating from the USSR on Israeli visa, starting October 1, 1989. Israel withheld sending visa invitations from the beginning of 1989 claiming technical difficulties. After that the bulk of Jewish emigration went to Israel, nearing a million people in the following decade. However, the conditions for Soviet refugees belonging to several religious minorities - including Jews, Baptists, Pentecostalists and Greek Catholics - were eased by the

Lautenberg Amendment The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, often called the "Lautenberg Amendment" ("Gun Ban for Individuals Convicted of a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence", , ), is an amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, enacte ...

passed in 1989 and renewed annually. Those who could claim family reunion could apply for the direct US visa, and were still receiving the

political refugee The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

status in the early 1990s. 50,716 citizens of ex-USSR were granted political refugee status by the United States in 1990, 38,661 in 1991, 61,298 in 1992, 48,627 in 1993, 43,470 in 1994, 35,716 in 1995 with the trend steadily dropping to as low as 1,394 refugees accepted in 2003. For the first time in history, Russians became a notable part of

illegal immigration to the United States Illegal immigration to the United States is the process of migrating into the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. This can include foreign nationals (aliens) who have entered the United States unlawfully, as well as thos ...

. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent transition to free market economy came hyperinflation and a series of political and economic crises of the 1990s, culminating in the financial crash of 1998. By mid-1993 between 39% and 49% of Russians were living in

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

, a sharp increase compared to 1.5% of the late Soviet era. This instability and bleak outcome prompted a large new wave of both political and economic emigration from Russia, and one of the major targets became the United States, which was experiencing an unprecedented

stock market boom A stock market bubble is a type of economic bubble taking place in stock markets when market participants drive stock prices above their value in relation to some system of stock valuation. Behavioral finance theory attributes stock market bubble ...

in 1995–2001. A notable part of the 1991—2001 immigration wave consisted of scientists and engineers who, faced with extremely poor job market at home coupled with the government unwilling to index fixed salaries according to inflation or even to make salary payments on time, left to pursue their careers abroad. This coincided with the surge of hi-tech industry in the United States, creating a strong brain drain effect. According to the National Science Foundation, there were 20,000 Russian scientists working in the United States in 2003, and the Russian software engineers were responsible for 30% of Microsoft products in 2002. Skilled professionals often command a significantly higher wage in the US than in Russia. The number of Russian migrants with university educations is higher than that of US natives and other foreign born groups. 51% of lawful Russian migrants obtain permanent residence from immediate family member of US citizens, 20% obtain it from the Diversity Lottery, 18% obtain it through employment, 6% are family sponsored, and 5% are refugee and asylum seekers. The Soviet Union was a sports empire, and many prominent Russian sportspeople found great acclaim and rewards for their skills in the United States. Examples are Alexander Ovechkin,

Alexandre Volchkov Alexander Aleksandrovich Volchkov (born September 25, 1977) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player. Early life Volchkov was born in Moscow. As a youth, he played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a tea ...

, and Andrei Kirilenko. Nastia Liukin was born in Moscow, but came to America with her parents as a young child, and developed as a champion gymnast in the U.S.

Notable communities

Communities with high percentages of people of Russian ancestry
The top U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Russian ancestry are: #

Fox River, Alaska Fox River is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 685, up from 616 in 2000. It was first reported by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1895. The Fox River, which flow ...

80.9% #

Aleneva, Alaska Aleneva (russian: Аленева) is a census-designated place in the Kodiak Island Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37, down from 68 in 2000. Geography and climate Aleneva is located at (Sec. 18, T0 ...

72.5% # Nikolaevsk, Alaska 67.5% #

Pikesville, Maryland Pikesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Pikesville is just northwest of the Baltimore city limits. It is the northwestern suburb closest to Baltimore. The population was 30,764 at the 2010 cens ...

19.30% #

Roslyn Estates, New York Roslyn Estates is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Ros ...

18.60% # Hewlett Harbor, New York 18.40% #

East Hills, New York East Hills is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. The population was 6,955 at the ...

18.00% # Wishek, North Dakota 17.40% #

Eureka, South Dakota Eureka is a city in western McPherson County, South Dakota, United States, that is near the North Dakota state line. The population was 813 at the 2020 census. History Eureka was laid out in 1887, and named "Eureka", a Greek exclamation meaning ...

17.30% # Beachwood, Ohio 16.80% #

Penn Wynne, Pennsylvania Penn Wynne is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Lower Merion Township, and the mailing address is Wynnewood. The population was 5,697 at the 2010 census. It is mainly a residential ...

16.70% #

Kensington, New York Kensington is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,161 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Kensington is in the Town of North Hempstead and is on the Great ...

and Mayfield, Pennsylvania 16.20% #

Napoleon, North Dakota Napoleon is a city in Logan County, North Dakota, Logan County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Logan County. The population was 749 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Napoleon was founded in 1886 and na ...

15.80%

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Russia
Top U.S. communities with the most residents born in Russia are: # Millville, Delaware 8.5% #

South Windham, Maine South Windham is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Windham in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population of the CDP was 1,374 at the 2010 census. Prior to 2010, South Windham was part of the Little Falls-South Windham c ...

7.8% #

South Gull Lake, Michigan South Gull Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ross Township, Kalamazoo County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. It includes the unincorporated communities of Yorkville, Gull Lake, and Midland Park and does not have any legal status as an inc ...

7.6% #

Loveland Park, Ohio Loveland Park is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Symmes Township, Hamilton County and Deerfield Township, Warren County, in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The CDP is named after the city of Loveland. The population ...

6.8% #

Terramuggus, Connecticut Terramuggus is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Marlborough, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the town center village and surrounding areas. The population was 1,025 at the 2010 census. Geography According to ...

4.7% #

Harwich Port, Massachusetts Harwich Port (also spelled Harwichport) is a small seaside community and census-designated place (CDP) situated along Nantucket Sound in the town of Harwich in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the port of Harwich i ...

4.6% # Brush Prairie, Washington 4.5% #

Feasterville, Pennsylvania Feasterville is a census-designated place located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community was part of Feasterville-Trevose, which was split into two separate CDPs, the other being Trevose, Pennsylvania, Trevose. As of the 2010 ...

4.4% #

Colville, Washington Colville is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stevens County. History John Work, an agent for The Hudson's Bay Company, established Fort Colvile near the ...

4.4% # Mayfield, Ohio 4.0% # Serenada, Texas 4.0% # Orchards, Washington 3.6% # Leavenworth, Washington 3.4% Apart from such settlements as Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, concentrations of Russian Americans can be found in

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Queens;

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

;

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

;

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

; Boston; The Bronx; other parts of Brooklyn; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; Los Angeles; Beverly Hills; Miami; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Palm Beach; Houston; Dallas; Orlando; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento; San Francisco; Raleigh and Research Triangle Region North Carolina, and Seattle.

Notable people

References

External links

* (English translations of selected newspaper articles, 1855-1938). {{Russian diaspora European-American society United States

Demographics

Russian-born population

Social status

History

Colonial era

Russian America (1733–1867)

Immigration to the U.S.

First wave (1870–1915)

Second wave (1916–1922)

Soviet era (1922–1991)

Post-Soviet era (1991–present)

Notable communities

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links