The chart below shows the waves of immigrants who have arrived since 1820. That’s when the U.S. started keeping records.
Before 1880, most immigrants were northern Europeans: British, Scandinavians, Germans, and Irish. The greatest numbers arrived between 1880 and 1920. 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.
