PeopleGroups Initiative

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area is a 2 county area in southern California. Los Angeles is the most densely populated city in the United States with over 7,500 people per square mile, and is considered to be the most linguistically diverse metro area in the United States.

Click the following button to learn more about Los Angeles Send City.

Total Population: 1,997,353

Census Data

Foreign Born - 4,393,914
Language Spoken at Home - 6,416,790

[Source: American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Foreign Born and Language Spoken at Home]

Quick Facts

Asian people groups total over 1.5 million with people groups from the American peoples numbering over 2.6 million.

33.5% of the total population are Foreign Born (1st Generation Americans).

Home to the largest Vietnamese community in the United States, known as Little Saigon, and home to over 170 Buddhist Temples.

Home to the largest Armenian community in the United States, with the majority residing in the Glendale area of the metro.

Los Angeles city contains the largest number of ethnic enclaves in the United States. Read more ...

Ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Little Bangladesh in Mid-City, Los Angeles, Little Moscow inHollywood, Little Tokyo, several Little Saigons, Tehrangeles in West Los Angeles and Thai Town provide examples.

A University of California study insists that in Los Angeles County alone 1 in 10 residents are illegal. 63 percent of those undocumented residents are Mexican, 22 percent are from Central America and 8 percent are from the Philippines, China, or Korea.

Profile

Los Angeles is an incredibly diverse city, home to people from over numerous countries who speak a large percentage of all languages spoken in the United States. Ethnic enclave communities like Koreatown, Chinatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia and Little Tokyo reveal the Metro Areas diverse multilingual and cultural nature.

Mexicans comprise the largest ethnic group of Latinos, followed by Salvadorans and Guatemalans. The largest Asian people groups include Vietnamese, Filipino (Tagalog speakers) and Koreans, which are mostly concentrated in Koreatown and Historic Filipinotown, respectively. Chinese, Mandarin people also have large presence and can be found in Chinatown and throughout the Metro Area. Both Thaitown and Chinatown are home to many Thai and Cambodian people, while Japanese people live primarily in Little Toyko in downtown Los Angeles. Middle Eastern people groups include Persians in what is known as Tehrangeles and Armenians in Little Armenia.

Los Angeles is an incredibly diverse city, home to people from over numerous countries who speak a large percentage of all languages spoken in the United States. Ethnic enclave communities like Koreatown, Chinatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia and Little Tokyo reveal the Metro Areas diverse multilingual and cultural nature.

Mexicans comprise the largest ethnic group of Latinos, followed by Salvadorans and Guatemalans. The largest Asian people groups include Vietnamese, Filipino (Tagalog speakers) and Koreans, which are mostly concentrated in Koreatown and Historic Filipinotown, respectively. Chinese, Mandarin people also have large presence and can be found in Chinatown and throughout the Metro Area. Both Thaitown and Chinatown are home to many Thai and Cambodian people, while Japanese people live primarily in Little Toyko in downtown Los Angeles. Middle Eastern people groups include Persians in what is known as Tehrangeles and Armenians in Little Armenia.

Only a few miles from California’s Disneyland sits a string of Middle Eastern restaurants and shops backed by the Arab American community affectionately called, “Little Arabia.”

View Enlarged Map of Metro Area

People Group Profiles

Displaying 1-25 of 112 results.

PG Name	Country Of Birth	Affinity Bloc	Primary Religion	Baseline Population Total

Azerbaijani	Azerbaijan	Turkic Peoples	Islam - Shia	2,800
Kazakh	Kazakhstan	Turkic Peoples	Islam	765
Turk	Turkey	Turkic Peoples	Islam - Sunni	11,500
Gujarati	India	South Asian Peoples	Hinduism	32,079
Bengali	Bangladesh	South Asian Peoples	Islam - Sunni	7,287
Hindi	India	South Asian Peoples	Hinduism	58,214
Kannada	India	South Asian Peoples	Hinduism	1,370
Urdu	Pakistan	South Asian Peoples	Islam	19,405
Sri Lankan, Sinhalese	Sri Lanka	South Asian Peoples	Buddhism	3,500
Punjabi Sikh	India	South Asian Peoples	Other Religions - Sikhism	32
Vietnamese	Vietnam	Southeast Asian Peoples	Buddhism	268,271
Cambodian, Khmer	Cambodia	Southeast Asian Peoples	Buddhism	47,000
Hmong, Njua	Laos	Southeast Asian Peoples	Ethnic Religions	2,240
Lamet	Laos	Southeast Asian Peoples	Buddhism	30
Lao	Laos	Southeast Asian Peoples	Buddhism	5,939
Thai	Thailand	Southeast Asian Peoples	Buddhism - Theravada	34,615
Guamian	Guam	Pacific Islanders	Christianity - Roman Catholic	5,500
Chamorro	Micronesia	Pacific Islanders	Christianity - Roman Catholic	10,000
Fijian	Fiji	Pacific Islanders	Christianity	2,950
Maori	New Zealand	Pacific Islanders	Christianity - Protestant	425
Filipino, Tagalog	Philippines	Malay Peoples	Christianity - Roman Catholic	266,890
Javanese	Malaysia	Malay Peoples	Islam - Sunni	450
Indonesian	Indonesia	Malay Peoples	Islam	18,413
Belizean	Belize	Latin-Caribbean Americans	Christianity - Other / Marginal	13,566
Salvadoran	El Salvador	Latin-Caribbean Americans	Christianity - Roman Catholic	280,519

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Ethnic Links

Ethnic Changes and Enclaves in Los Angeles - an article with a map on the various ethnic enclaves in Los Angeles and a map showing the various locations of ethnic enclaves.

A Map depicting the Ethnic Diversity of Los Angeles (by Los Angeles Times) - a map using a diversity index to reveal the most diverse neighborhoods and communities in Los Angeles.

Ethnic Enclaves in Southern California - a map depicting the various ethnic enclaves in the metro area.

Purepecha Festival - A yearly festival highlighting the culture, food, and music of the indigenous Purepecha people of Mexico.

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