Foreign born

People born outside their country of residence From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically through a parent.

The term foreign born encompasses both immigrants and expatriates but is not synonymous with either. Foreign born may, like immigrants, have committed to living in a country permanently or, like expatriates, live abroad for a significant period with the plan to return to their birth-country eventually.

The status of foreign born — particularly their access to citizenship — differs globally. The large groups of foreign-born guest workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, for example, have no right to citizenship no matter the length of their residence. In Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, by contrast, foreign born are often citizens or in the process of becoming citizens. Certain countries have intermediary rules: in Germany and Japan it is often difficult but not impossible for the foreign born to become citizens.

Definition

The adjective foreign-born has two potential meanings:

  • "born in a country other than that in which one resides."[1]
  • "foreign by birth."[2]

The United Nations uses the first definition to estimate the international migrant stock, whenever this information is available. In countries lacking data on place of birth, the UN uses the country of citizenship instead.[3]

On the other hand, the United States Census Bureau defines foreign-born as "anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth", which includes persons who have become U.S. citizens through naturalization but excludes persons born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents.

According to the UN: "Equating international migrants with foreign citizens when estimating the migrant stock has important shortcomings. In countries where citizenship is conferred on the basis of jus sanguinis, people who were born in the country of residence may be included in the number of international migrants even though they may have never lived abroad. Conversely, persons who were born abroad and who naturalized in their country of residence are excluded from the stock of international migrants when using citizenship as the criterion to define international migrants."[3]

Trends by country

See also: List of sovereign states and dependent territories by immigrant population
See also: Effects of immigration to the United States § Science and engineering

The percentage of foreign born in a country is the product mostly of immigration rates, but is also affected by emigration rates and birth and death rates in the destination country. For example, the United Kingdom and Ireland are destination countries for migrants from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia, but are themselves source countries for immigration to other English-speaking countries.

The Holy See is unique in having 100% of its population foreign-born. The region with the highest rate of foreign-born residents is Oceania, with 21%, while Asia has less than 1%.

Countries with immigration rates above 25% tend to be wealthy countries with relatively open migration or labour laws, including Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the Persian Gulf states.

The largest foreign-born population in the world is in the United States, which was home to 39 million foreign-born residents in 2012, or 12.6% of the population.[4]

Countries with the largest foreign-born populations

More information Rank, Country ...
Rank[5] Country Region Percentage of foreign-born population Largest foreign-born group
1 United Arab Emirates Greater Middle East 88.52%[6] Indian
2 Qatar Greater Middle East 81.3%[7] Indian
3 Kuwait Greater Middle East 69.1%[8] Indian
4 Bahrain Greater Middle East 54.6%[9] Indian
5 Saudi Arabia Greater Middle East 37.37%[10] Indian
6 Lebanon Greater Middle East 23%[11] Syrian
7 Canada North America 23%[12] Indian
8 Sweden Northern Europe 19.6%[13] Syrian
9 Germany Western Europe 18%[14] Turk
10 France Western Europe 17.2%[15] Algerian
11 Spain Western Europe 17.1%[15] Moroccan
12 United Kingdom Northern Europe 17%[15] Indian
13 United States North America 13.9%[16] Mexican
14PakistanGreater Middle East13.2%Indian
15 Turkey Greater Middle East 7.18%[citation needed] Syrian
16 Colombia South America 5.6%[17] Venezuelan
17 Brazil South America 1.00%[citation needed] Venezuelan
18 India South Asia 0.4%[18] Bangladeshi
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Direct figures on Pakistan's total foreign-born population are unavailable. However, estimates for specific immigrant communities can be found, which are as follows: 8.4% - 10% Indians (i.e., Muhajirs from India and their descendants),[19] 1.6% - 2% Afghans,[20] 1% Bengalis,[21] 0.1 - 0.2% Burmese[22][23]

Countries with largest refugee populations

More information Rank, Country ...
Rank[5] Country Region Refugees hosted
1 Iran Greater Middle East 3.8 million[24]
2 United States North America 3.6 million[25]
3 Turkey Greater Middle East 3.1 million[24]
4 Pakistan Greater Middle East 3.1 million[26]
5 Colombia South America 2.8 million[24]
6 Germany Western Europe 2.7 million[24]
7 Uganda East Africa 1.7 million[24]
8 Lebanon Greater Middle East 1.5 million[27]
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Metropolitan and urban regions with the largest foreign-born populations

  1. Data for the cities listed below is from numerous sources.
More information Rank, Metropolitan region / urban area ...
Rank[5] Metropolitan region /
urban area		 Country Foreign-born population Sources of immigrants
1New York metropolitan areaUnited States5,892,000[28]China, India, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Ecuador, Guyana, Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Italy, Colombia, Poland, Russia, Pakistan, Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Greece
2London and the home countiesUnited Kingdom5,623,701[29]India, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, Pakistan, Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, China, France, Ghana, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, United States, Greece, Kenya, Canada
3Los Angeles Metropolitan AreaUnited States5,541,000[28]Mexico, Philippines, El Salvador, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iran, Armenia, India, Taiwan, Nigeria, Colombia, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada
4Greater Toronto Area[a]Canada3,231,295[30][31][32][33][34][b]India, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Italy, Iran, United Kingdom, Guyana, Portugal, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Iraq, Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Greece, Romania
5Paris metropolitan areaFrance3,041,148[35]Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Romania, Turkey, China, Italy, Mali, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Cameroon, Martinique, Ivory Coast
6Hong Kong (SAR)Hong Kong2,793,450China, Indonesia, Philippines, Macau, Thailand, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Japan, United States, Canada
7San Francisco Bay AreaUnited States2,634,270[36][37]Mexico, China, Philippines, Vietnam, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, South Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Japan, Nicaragua
8Sydney Greater Capital City Statistical AreaAustralia2,071,872[38]China, United Kingdom, India, New Zealand, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka
9Miami metropolitan areaUnited States1,949,629[citation needed]Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Canada, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Panama, Peru, Argentina
10Melbourne Greater Capital City Statistical AreaAustralia1,801,139[39]India, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Greece, Philippines, South Africa, Hong Kong, Afghanistan
11Chicago metropolitan areaUnited States1,625,649[citation needed]Mexico, India, Poland, Philippines, China, Palestine, Ukraine, Italy, Guatemala, Lithuania, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago
12Brussels Urban AreaBelgium1,441,600[citation needed]France, Romania, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, DR Congo, Guinea
13Singapore (city only)Singapore1,305,011[citation needed]Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Myanmar, South Korea
14Berlin Urban AreaGermany1,231,500[citation needed]Turkey, Russia, Poland, Syria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, France, Vietnam, United Kingdom
15Metro VancouverCanada1,222,460[40][b]Hong Kong, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, Poland, United Kingdom, Italy, United States
16Greater MontrealCanada1,184,620[41][b]Algeria, Morocco, Romania, France, Haiti, Lebanon, Philippines, Vietnam, Italy, China, India
17Moscow (city only)Russia1,128,035[citation needed]Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus
18Houston metropolitan areaUnited States1,113,875[citation needed]Mexico, El Salvador, Vietnam, India, Nigeria, China, Honduras, Philippines, Myanmar, Guatemala, Colombia
19Metropolitan DubaiUnited Arab Emirates1,056,000[citation needed]India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom
20Riyadh (city only)Saudi Arabia1,054,000[citation needed]Arab League, Pakistan, India, African Union, Bangladesh, Iran
21Washington metropolitan areaUnited States1,017,432[citation needed]El Salvador, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Korea, Nigeria, Philippines, Vietnam, Ghana, Bolivia
22Dallas–Fort Worth metroplexUnited States1,016,221[citation needed]Mexico, India, Vietnam, El Salvador, China, South Korea, Honduras, Philippines
23Frankfurt Urban AreaGermany998,400[citation needed]Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Russia, North Macedonia
24Tokyo Urban AreaJapan978,172[citation needed]China, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, United States, Brazil, Nepal, Taiwan, Peru, Thailand
25Santiago Metropolitan RegionChile938,904[citation needed]Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Haiti, Argentina
26Birmingham Urban AreaUnited Kingdom902,438[citation needed]India, Pakistan, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, China, Italy, Albania, Nigeria, Somalia
27Barcelona Urban AreaSpain862,200[citation needed]Italy, Pakistan, China, Ecuador, Bolivia, Morocco, France, Honduras, Argentina
28Atlanta metropolitan areaUnited States861,208[citation needed]Mexico, India, Jamaica, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia
29 Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area Australia 731,198[citation needed] New Zealand, England, China, India, South Africa, Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Scotland, Malaysia
30 Stockholm County Sweden 681,538[42]Iraq, Finland, Poland, Iran, Syria, Turkey, India, Ukraine, China, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Chile, Somalia, Pakistan, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, Thailand, Ethiopia, Greece, United States, Romania
31Auckland Urban AreaNew Zealand662,298[citation needed]United Kingdom, China, India, Fiji, Samoa, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka
32MuscatOman571,000[citation needed]Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
33 Amsterdam metropolitan area Netherlands 554,530[citation needed] Morocco, Turkey, Suriname, Poland, Ghana, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Germany, India, Curacao
34 Madrid Spain 512,218 Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru
35Calgary Metropolitan RegionCanada488,740[43][b]India, Pakistan, Philippines, United States, Nigeria, China, Lebanon, Vietnam, United Kingdom, South Korea, Iran, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Germany, European Union
36Milan Urban AreaItaly475,000[citation needed]Egypt, Philippines, China, Romania, Sri Lanka
37Edmonton Metropolitan RegionCanada389,490[44][b]China, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Lebanon
38National Capital Region (Canada)Canada349,005[45][b]Italy, Pakistan, India
39 Phoenix United States 346,430 Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines, Germany, Romania, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herz., Ethiopia
40Hamburg Metropolitan RegionGermany332,473[46]Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Italy, Spain, Ghana
41 San Diego United States 325,819 Philippines, China, Mexico
42Greater ManchesterUnited Kingdom302,000[citation needed]Pakistan, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Poland, Nigeria, India, Somalia, Jamaica, Iraq
43Winnipeg Metropolitan RegionCanada238,170[47][b]China, United Kingdom, Lebanon, United States, India, Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Syria, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Egypt, Italy, Iraq, DR Congo, Germany, Jamaica, Russia, Hong Kong
44HelsinkiFinland213,290[48]Russia, Estonia, Somalia, Iraq, Sweden, China, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, India, Turkey
45 Philadelphia United States 179,444 Ukraine, China, Dominican Republic, Liberia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico
46 Boston United States 161,740 China, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cape Verde, Russia, India
47Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan RegionGermany132,684[citation needed]Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Italy, Spain
48 Seattle United States 105,154 China, Mexico, Somalia, South Korea, Philippines, Russia, Colombia, Ukraine
49 Charlotte United States 96,734 China, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, India, Honduras
50 Denver United States 95,985 Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia, Germany, Ethiopia, Guatemala
51GenevaSwitzerland77,602[citation needed]France, Spain, Germany
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Cities with largest foreign born populations

More information Rank, City ...
Rank City Country Region Estimate date and source (where available) Foreign-born population Percentage Country of origin of the largest foreign-born group
1LondonUnited Kingdom Northern EuropeONS 20213,576,000[29]40.6% India
2 Dubai United Arab Emirates Greater Middle East Government of Dubai 2021 3,200,000[49] 91.4% India
3New YorkUnited States North America2022 ACS3,133,149[50]36.3% Dominican Republic
4SydneyAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census2,260,410[51]43.2% China
5 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Greater Middle East 2014 2,173,000[52] 80% India
6 Kuwait City Kuwait Greater Middle East 2018 2,088,000[53][54] 69.6% India
7MelbourneAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census1,970,614[55]40.1% India
8 Doha Qatar Greater Middle East 2021 1,768,000[56][57] 88.4% India
9LimaPeru South America2023 United Nations Office of Peru1,586,880[58]17.5% Venezuela
10TorontoCanada North America2021 Canadian census1,431,380[30][b]51.9% India
11Los AngelesUnited States North America2022 ACS1,395,920[59]36.0% Mexico
12PerthAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census858,141[60]40.5% England
13BrisbaneAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census799,645[61]31.7% New Zealand
14MontréalCanada North America2021 Canadian census790,960[62][b]40.9% France
15BerlinGermany Western EuropeBerlin-Brandenburg office of statistics, 2021789,076[citation needed]21% Turkey
16ViennaAustria Western EuropeCity of Vienna 2023778,454[63]31.3% Serbia
17MadridSpain Southern Europe2019 Spain Census726,669[citation needed]22.2% Morocco
18AucklandNew Zealand OceaniaStatistics New Zealand 2018714,480[citation needed]41.6% India
19HoustonUnited States North America2022 ACS664,495[64]28.9% Mexico
20 Peshawar Pakistan Greater Middle East 2005 611,501[65][66] 19.7 Afghanistan
21BogotáColombia South America2026600,000[67]7.5% Venezuela
22ChicagoUnited States North America2022 ACS550,888[68]20.2% Mexico
23CalgaryCanada North America2021 Canadian census457,665[69][b]35.4% Philippines
24AdelaideAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census434,090[70]31.3% England
25San JoseUnited States North America2022 ACS410,543[71]41.0% Mexico
26MississaugaCanada North America2021 Canadian census406,455[72][b]57% India
27BramptonCanada North America2021 Canadian census383,695[73][b]59.1% India
28São PauloBrazil South America2019362,340[citation needed]3% Venezuela
29San DiegoUnited States North America2022 ACS344,419[74]24.9% Mexico
30EdmontonCanada North America2021 Canadian census348,295[75][b]34.9% India
31HamburgGermany Western Europe2021 ACS341,759[citation needed]24.7% Turkey
32MilanItaly Southern EuropeIstat 2011324,378[76]10.7% Egypt
33VancouverCanada North America2021 Canadian census317,190[77][b]48.8% China
34BirminghamUnited Kingdom Northern EuropeONS 2021305,963[citation needed]25.6% Pakistan
35OttawaCanada North America2021 Canadian census288,835[78]28.9% China
36San FranciscoUnited States North America2022 ACS288,169[79]33.9% China
37SurreyCanada North America2021 Canadian census285,620[80][b]50.8% India
38AmsterdamNetherlands Western EuropeStatistics Netherlands 2019277,431[citation needed]32.1% Turkey
39MiamiUnited States North America2022 ACS256,805[81]57.9% Cuba
40StockholmSweden Northern EuropeStatistics Sweden 2019248,708[citation needed]25.5% Syria
41 Medellín Colombia South America 2024 240,000[82] 10% Venezuela
42LyonFrance Western EuropeFrance Unité urbaine de Lyon, INSEE 2020235,969[citation needed]14% Algeria
43WinnipegCanada North America2021 Canadian census231,135[83][b]31.4% India
44 Cúcuta Colombia South America 2024 220,000[84] 28% Venezuela
45SantiagoChile South America2017 Census212,037[citation needed]10.2% Venezuela
46MarseilleFrance Western EuropeUnité urbaine de Marseille-Aix, INSEE 2020193,740[citation needed]12% Algeria
47RotterdamNetherlands Western EuropeStatistics Netherlands 2019184,218[citation needed]28.6% Turkey
48 Barranquilla Colombia South America 2025 182,000[85] 14% Venezuela
49 Cali Colombia South America 2023 180,000[86] 7.83 Venezuela
50The HagueNetherlands Western EuropeStatistics Netherlands 2019176,183[citation needed]32.8% Indonesia
51ManchesterUnited Kingdom Northern EuropeONS 2021173,208[citation needed]31.4% Pakistan
52OsloNorway Northern EuropeStatistics Norway 2019171,868[citation needed]25.2% Pakistan
53GothenburgSweden Northern EuropeStatistics Sweden 2019159,342[citation needed]27.5% Iraq
54HamiltonCanada North America2021 Canadian census158,190[87][b]28.2% Italy
55CanberraAustralia Oceania2021 Australian Census156,895[88]32% India
56CopenhagenDenmark Northern EuropeStatistics Denmark 2022134,409[citation needed]26.3% Turkey
57MalmöSweden Northern EuropeStatistics Sweden 2019118,323[citation needed]34.4% Iraq
58HelsinkiFinland Northern EuropeStatistics Finland 2021102,016[citation needed]15.5% Russia
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Combined population of Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, Durham Region and Halton Region.
  2. [b]
    Statistic includes all persons classified as 'Immigrants' and 'Non-permanent residents' on census.

    Statistics Canada defines 'Immigrants' as "persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. Such persons have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category."

    Statistics Canada defines 'Non-permanent residents' as "persons from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada and who have a work or study permit or who have claimed refugee status (asylum claimants). Family members living with work or study permit holders are also included, unless these family members are already Canadian citizens, landed immigrants or permanent residents."

References

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