14.8: South Asian Americans
California has the largest Indian American population in the U.S. Many live in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Los Angeles suburbs of Artesia and Cerritos have large Indian American communities. San Jose, Fremont, and other Silicon Valley cities have many Indian Americans who are employed in the high-tech industry. Many Indian Americans are in Central Valley cities such as Stockton, Bakersfield, Fresno, Yuba City, and the Imperial Valley. Most South Asians in California are Indian American, but there are also Pakistani Americans, Bangladeshi Americans, and Sri Lankan Americans concentrated in the San Gabriel Valley (Covina Valley) of the Los Angeles area. California is home to the unique Punjabi Mexican American community, mostly centered around Yuba City.
California is home to 200,000 Roma of the estimated one million in America. Romani Americans, also known pejoratively as American Gypsies, originated in India and came to the United States via Europe. There is a Romani community in Los Angeles and San Francisco.