The chart below shows the waves of immigrants who have arrived since 1820, when the U.S. started keeping records.
Before 1880, most immigrants were northern Europeans: British, Scandinavians, Germans, and Irish. Between 1880 and 1920, when the greatest numbers arrived, most were from southern and eastern Europe: Italians and Slavs. From the latter half of the twentieth century into the twenty-first, Latin Americans and Asians have been the largest groups.
