Iranian – Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship.
According to mid-2019 estimates from the United Nations Population Division, the United States is the most popular destination for Iranians living abroad (> 577,000). Canada is next with Iranian population (164,000), followed by Germany (127,000), the United Kingdom (90,000), and Turkey (83,000).
immigration vs emigration
Both involve the movement of people from one place to another. The main difference between the two terms is based on POV.
For the host country, the person is an immigrant, while the person is an emigrant to their country of origin.
Why did/do Iranians move and settle far away from their ancestral homeland?
With all the different upheavals in its long history, emigration movements are part of the Iranian history,
Below are some of the major emigration waves, since the 7th century CE:
- After the Arab conquest in AD 936. The Parsis, Persians who followed the Zoroastrian faith, fled to western India. The current Parsis in India are descendants of that emigration wave.
- When the Mongols invaded Central Asia sometime between 1215 and 1220, many Iranians fled to neighboring countries. One significant example is Rumi (Malavi) the famous mystic poet, whose epic poetry is written in Farsi. Rumi was born to native Persian-speaking parents, originally from Balkh, a town in present-day Afghanistan, which at the time was part of the Persian, Khwarezmian Empire. His father emigrated westwards with his whole family and a group of disciples, and after several years and many stops, finally settled down in Konya in Anatolia (current Turkey) in 1228.
- In the mid-19th century, shortly after the founding of Baha’ism (a religious sect in Iran) followers of that faith sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire after facing persecution in Iran.
- 20th Century Emigration Waves:
- The first significant phase of emigration from Iran, that began in the 1950s, came about by Iran’s economic recovery after World War II. Revenue from oil exports allowed for change in Iranian society towards modernization. Middle/upper-class families were motivated to send their children abroad for higher education as a means of ensuring job security and prosperity upon return.
- During and right after the 1979 revolution, many of the above-mentioned students opted to remain in the West (while some returned to partake in the new republic). This wave included their families too (as they were not returning home). Anticipating persecutions, people close to the monarchy, members of the previous government and military personnel, along with people of religious minorities, such as the Baha’is, the Jews and Armenians, and Assyrians (as they were Christians) left the country.
- Another wave of emigration took place a couple of years after the revolution. This wave included different groups, socialist and liberals, young men who fled military service due to the Iran-Iraq War, young women and families, escaping harsh gender restrictions, basically people who were impacted negatively by the new rules of the land.
- A more recent wave of emigration started from roughly 1995 to the present. This wave consists of two very distinct populations — highly skilled individuals leaving universities and research institutions, and working-class labor migrants and economic refuge
It is important to note that like most emigrants who leave their country under duress, Iranian emigrants, initially viewed their journey as a temporary endeavor, assuming they would return when the revolutionary government changed or became more moderate. Thus, they just locked up their homes, packed a few suitcases, and left. But as time progressed the possibility of a return has grown increasingly unlikely.