Monthly Archives: November 2021

Charlotte is the 23rd-most populous city in the United States and is the most populous city in the state of North Carolina.  The Charlotte metropolitan area is a sixteen-county region that stretches into the state of South Carolina and includes the towns of Concord, Gastonia, Huntersville, Kannapolis, Indian Trail, Mooresville, Monroe, Salisbury, Matthews, Statesville, Rock Hill (SC), and Fort Mill (SC).  Known as the Queen City, this metropolis of 2.6 million people has been one of the country’s fastest-growing cities the past two decades.  Charlotte’s youthful population, low cost of living, and geographic location in America’s Sun Belt, have made it an attractive destination for business investment.  This investment has brought steady job growth to the region and is attracting more and more immigrants, including those from Africa.  While the population of Gambians in Charlotte is small, their numbers are still large enough for them to organize social events and celebrations through the Charlotte Gambian Association and North Carolina Gambian Association.  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (about a 2-hour drive from Charlotte) offers classes in Wolof, one of the main languages spoken in Banjul, the capital and commercial hub of The Gambia. 

Atlanta has a population of over 6 million people, making it the 9th most populous metropolitan area in the United States.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, which is the 8th most populous of the 50 states.  The city and surrounding area, known as the Atlanta metropolitan area, is also the commercial capital of the Southeast United States.  The metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Chamblee, Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, Duluth, Norcross, Tucker, Lithonia, Decatur, Mableton, Clarkston, Conyers, and others.  Atlanta has become an extremely diverse and international city.  The Atlanta metropolitan area has nearly 85,000 immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and has one of the largest populations of West Africans in the country, including a few hundred immigrants from The Gambia.  Although the number of Gambians in Atlanta is small (there are only about 10,000 Gambians in the United States), the community comes together for special events like The Gambia’s Independence Anniversary, weddings, and religious holidays.  There are also nonprofit organizations like the Gambian Christians Organization and the Atlanta Gambian Emergency Relief Association.  At Georgia Tech, students can study Wolof, one of the languages spoken in The Gambia.

Хьюстон, штат Техас, крупнейший город на юге и четвертый по величине город в Соединенных Штатах, – это процветающий мегаполис, население которого составляют представители различных стран мира. Новички в городе могут захотеть записаться на одну из городских программ ESL (английский в качестве второго языка), чтобы улучшить свои знания языка или же подготовиться к обучению в США.

Официальным прозвищем города является «космический город» благодаря его роли в программах НАСА по исследованию космоса, Хьюстон также известен как «город заливов» из-за 10 основных водных путей, протекающих через этот район. Название «большое сердце» город получил после того, как здесь нашли убежище более 150 000 выживших после урагана Катрина, обрушившегося на Луизиану в 2005 году. Благодаря профессиональным спортивным командам у города появились еще два прозвища: «город концовок», после победы Хьюстон Рокетс в чемпионатах НБА и Главной лиги бейсбола, а также «город-давка» за большое количество хоумранов, кото

UPDATED April 4, 2022

The Greater Miami Area is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the United States and has a population of 6.2 million people.  The metropolitan area is composed of Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County.  Its main cities include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Miramar, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, and Boca Raton.  This is a diverse community where 40% of the population was born in another country, and it is one of America’s most important cities for international trade.  Miami is a business hub for the Latin American region and is often thought of as the unofficial “Capital of Latin America”.  The city is also trending in the news for its efforts to become a technology hub, which in turn is prompting more Indian immigrants with backgrounds in engineering to consider Miami as a place to relocate.  There are thousands of Indian people already in South Florida and there is a strong base of professional and cultural organizations supporting this immigrant community such as the India-US Chamber of Commerce of South Florida and the Miami Association of Indian Americans for Culture and Arts, as well as other organizations representing various ethnic groups such as Telugu, Bengali, Sindhi, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, and Tamil people.

UPDATED April 4, 2022

The city of Orlando, located in the Central Florida region of the United States and known as “the City Beautiful”, is ranked as America’s 23rd most-populous city.  The Orlando metropolitan area includes various cities and towns such as Kissimmee, Sanford, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, and Apopka.  The metro area has a population of 2.6 million people and is home to several theme parks including Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.  Orlando’s theme parks, natural attractions, and year-round warm weather make it one of the most-visited cities in the world.  The Orlando economy is expanding thanks to the internal migration of Americans from slow growth states along with the flow of immigrants from all over the world, including from India.  Indian immigrants are attracted to the region’s numerous business ownership opportunities within the restaurant and hospitality industry, along with strong job prospects in the medical and technology fields.  Orlando is home to several Indian cultural organizations like the Hindu Society of Central Florida, Gujarati Society of Central Florida, Telugu Association of Greater Orlando, and many others.  Orlando also has a diversity of religious organizations including churches, mosques, and Hindu and Sikh temples.