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What Alabama's immigrant population looked like in 1900

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Everett Collection // Shutterstock
Everett Collection // Shutterstock
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Since the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown in 1607, flows of immigrants have arrived on American shores seeking a new life. From Irish immigrants fleeing famine to Chinese immigrants settling in California during the Gold Rush, more than 86 million people legally immigrated to the United States between 1783 and 2019.

There have been four major waves of immigration to the U.S., beginning with settlers from northern and western Europe seeking land on the frontier from 1820 to 1880. The immigrants counted in the 1900 Census hailed primarily from southern and eastern Europe, drawn by the call of industrialization in America. At the advent of the era of world wars, there was a dearth of immigration, but after 1965, individuals from Asia and Latin America began to move to the U.S. in droves.

Though the national immigrant population today and in 1900 is comparable by percentage, hovering around 14% of the overall U.S. population, the raw population tells a different story. Today, the U.S. is home to 44.7 million immigrants, whereas that number was just shy of 10.5 million at the time of the 1900 Census. Stacker compiled a list of the largest sources of immigrants in Alabama in 1900 by transcribing a previously untranscribed dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau. Countries are ranked by total residents who were born in that country.

Immigration to the U.S. was handled at the state level prior to 1890, with each state government designating its own processes and checkpoints. New York originally used Castle Garden (now Castle Clinton) as its immigration processing hub, but within a few decades realized that a massive influx of immigrants necessitated a larger venue. Ellis Island opened on Jan. 1, 1892, to the first of more than 12 million individuals who entered the U.S. through its doors.

Keep reading to find out more about the historical immigrant community in your home state or explore the data on your own on our site, GitHub, or data.world.

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1 / 42

#1. Germany

Alabama
- Number of residents: 3,634
- Percent of foreign born residents: 24.90%
- Percent of total state population: 0.20%
National
- Number of residents: 2,669,164
- Percent of foreign born residents: 25.52%
- #1 most common country of origin

2 / 42

#2. England

Alabama
- Number of residents: 2,347
- Percent of foreign born residents: 16.08%
- Percent of total state population: 0.13%
National
- Number of residents: 843,491
- Percent of foreign born residents: 8.06%
- #4 most common country of origin

3 / 42

#3. Ireland

Alabama
- Number of residents: 1,792
- Percent of foreign born residents: 12.28%
- Percent of total state population: 0.10%
National
- Number of residents: 1,619,409
- Percent of foreign born residents: 15.48%
- #2 most common country of origin

4 / 42

#4. Scotland

Alabama
- Number of residents: 1,223
- Percent of foreign born residents: 8.38%
- Percent of total state population: 0.07%
National
- Number of residents: 234,699
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.24%
- #11 most common country of origin

6 / 42

#6. Canada

Alabama
- Number of residents: 697
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.78%
- Percent of total state population: 0.04%
National
- Number of residents: 1,183,225
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.31%
- #3 most common country of origin

7 / 42

#7. France

Alabama
- Number of residents: 539
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.69%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 104,534
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #18 most common country of origin

8 / 42

#8. Sweden

Alabama
- Number of residents: 488
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.34%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 574,625
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.49%
- #5 most common country of origin

9 / 42

#9. Russia

Alabama
- Number of residents: 468
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 424,372
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.06%
- #7 most common country of origin

11 / 42

#11. Hungary

Alabama
- Number of residents: 332
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.28%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 145,815
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.39%
- #14 most common country of origin

12 / 42

#12. Wales

Alabama
- Number of residents: 306
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 93,744
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.90%
- #20 most common country of origin

13 / 42

#13. Switzerland

Alabama
- Number of residents: 200
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.37%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 115,959
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.11%
- #15 most common country of origin

14 / 42

#14. Norway

Alabama
- Number of residents: 159
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 338,426
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.24%
- #9 most common country of origin

16 / 42

#16. Greece

Alabama
- Number of residents: 129
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.88%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 8,655
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #31 most common country of origin

17 / 42

#17. Denmark

Alabama
- Number of residents: 96
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.66%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 154,616
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.48%
- #13 most common country of origin

18 / 42

#18. West Indies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico)

Alabama
- Number of residents: 79
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.54%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 14,468
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #26 most common country of origin

19 / 42

#19. Africa

Alabama
- Number of residents: 77
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.53%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,577
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #40 most common country of origin

21 / 42

#21. Spain

Alabama
- Number of residents: 59
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.40%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 7,284
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #33 most common country of origin

22 / 42

#22. Cuba

Alabama
- Number of residents: 55
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.38%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 11,159
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #28 most common country of origin

23 / 42

#23. China

Alabama
- Number of residents: 54
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.37%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 106,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.02%
- #16 most common country of origin

24 / 42

#24. Asia (except China, Japan, and India)

Alabama
- Number of residents: 52
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.36%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 11,928
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #27 most common country of origin

26 / 42

#26. Belgium

Alabama
- Number of residents: 45
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.31%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 29,848
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- #24 most common country of origin

27 / 42

#27. Mexico

Alabama
- Number of residents: 43
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 103,445
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.99%
- #19 most common country of origin

28 / 42

#28. Holland

Alabama
- Number of residents: 42
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 105,098
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #17 most common country of origin

29 / 42

#29. Europe (not otherwise specified)

Alabama
- Number of residents: 33
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.23%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,272
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #41 most common country of origin

31 / 42

#31. Finland

Alabama
- Number of residents: 28
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.19%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 63,440
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.61%
- #22 most common country of origin

32 / 42

#32. Born at Sea

Alabama
- Number of residents: 26
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.18%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 8,310
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #32 most common country of origin

33 / 42

#33. Central America

Alabama
- Number of residents: 23
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.16%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 3,911
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- #36 most common country of origin

34 / 42

#34. Roumania

Alabama
- Number of residents: 16
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 15,043
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #25 most common country of origin

36 / 42

#36. Portugal

Alabama
- Number of residents: 8
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 37,144
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.36%
- #23 most common country of origin

37 / 42

#37. Other Countries

Alabama
- Number of residents: 7
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,587
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #39 most common country of origin

38 / 42

#38. India

Alabama
- Number of residents: 7
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,069
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #42 most common country of origin

39 / 42

#39. Pacific Islands (except Phillipine Islands)

Alabama
- Number of residents: 6
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- #38 most common country of origin

41 / 42

#41. Japan

Alabama
- Number of residents: 6
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 81,590
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.78%
- #21 most common country of origin

42 / 42

#42. Atlantic Islands

Alabama
- Number of residents: 1
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 10,955
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #29 most common country of origin

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