Sri Lankan Sinhalese in North America

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island located in the Indian Ocean, approximately 20 miles off the southeastern tip of India. The name “Sri Lanka” means “resplendent land.” The majority of the population in Sri Lanka, around 74 percent, is Sinhalese, who predominantly follow the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Tamils and Moors are Muslim with small percentages of all ethnicities following Christ.

The history of human habitation in Sri Lanka dates back over 2000 years. In more recent times, the country has been ruled by various foreign powers, including Portugal, the Netherlands, and Britain. In 1931, Britain granted limited self-government to Ceylon, and in 1948, the country gained independence and became known as Ceylon. The name was later changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.

Since gaining independence, Sri Lanka has experienced hostilities between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. This conflict led to a civil war that took place from 1983 to 2009. The majority of uprisings and casualties occurred in the northeastern part of the country, where the Tamil population is concentrated.

The immigration of Sinhalese people from Sri Lanka to North America began in the 1950s, with the numbers increasing significantly since the mid-1980s due to the ongoing civil war and economic challenges in the country. Today, the Sinhalese diaspora in North America consists of approximately 72,000 people, most of whom live in Toronto and New York City.

Education holds great importance in Sri Lankan culture, and this value is also reflected among the Sinhalese diaspora in North America. Sinhalese individuals’ educational and economic levels in North America are among the highest within the Asian diaspora. The caste system, which is still present in Sri Lanka, also influences the composition of the diaspora, with a majority of those who have settled in North America coming from higher castes.

Family plays a significant role in the lives of the Sinhalese, both in Sri Lanka and in their new homes. It is common for unmarried adult children to continue living with their parents. Additionally, the pursuit of higher education often results in individuals marrying later in life due to the time commitment required for obtaining a college education.

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Adam’s Peak, located in central Sri Lanka, is considered a sacred place by several religions. The mountain has a unique dip at the top known as “Sri Pada” or sacred footprint. Buddhists believe these are the footprints of Buddha as he was going to paradise.

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Religious Life

The majority of Sinhalese in Sri Lanka follow Theravada Buddhism, which is considered the state religion. However, due to the historical and cultural ties between Sri Lanka and India, Buddhism in Sri Lanka has been influenced by Hinduism. It is common to find temples in Sri Lanka that have shrines dedicated to Hindu gods, reflecting this influence. Additionally, indigenous peoples’ religious beliefs have also impacted the religious landscape of Sri Lanka.

During the periods of Portuguese, Dutch, and British rule in Sri Lanka, Christian missionaries arrived in the country. As a result, there is a small number of Christians in Sri Lanka, with the majority residing in the northeastern part of the country. Sri Lankan Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and in the diaspora remain an unreached people group.

In the context of the Sinhalese diaspora, the New York Buddhist Vihara was established in 1981 and relocated to its current location in Parkside Hills, Queens, in 2000. This Vihara serves as a Buddhist temple and meditation center. Additionally, the Staten Island Buddhist Vihara Meditation Center and Healing Garden was established in 1999, primarily serving the community in what is now known as Little Sri Lanka on Staten Island.

The Toronto Mah Vihara, formed in 1978 in Scarborough, is Canada’s oldest Sinhalese Buddhist temple. The West-End Buddhist Centre, founded in 1992, is prominent in Mississauga.

New York has the largest community of Sinhalese individuals outside of Sri Lanka. However, there is no known evangelical work specifically targeted toward the Sinhalese community in New York.

Lipton Tea, founded in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), traces its roots back to Sir Thomas Lipton's purchase of a plantation. To this day, Lipton incorporates Ceylon tea, sourced from Sri Lanka, into many of its products, maintaining a strong connection to its origins.

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These are the Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhist communities in North America most in need of gospel witness

People Group	Metropolitan Area	Population Size	Concentrated Area	Priority Score
Afghan	Houston	9,850	Gulfton	48
Afghan	Los Angeles	16,719	Irvine	57
Afghan	Montreal	10,805	Saint-Martin (Laval)	59
Afghan	New York	9,871	Flushing (Queens)	49
Afghan	Sacramento	21,673	Elk Grove	69
Afghan	San Diego	7,189	El Cajon	58
Afghan	San Francisco	32,142	Fremont	69
Afghan	Seattle	6,994	Kent	54
Afghan	Toronto	43,075	Scarborough	57
Afghan	Vancouver	7,980	New Westminster	51
Afghan	Washington D.C.	33,236	Springfield	73
Afghan Hindu/Sikh	New York	6,000	Hicksville (Long Island)	86
Albanian Muslim	Boston	15,903	Revere	53
Albanian Muslim	Chicago	11,230	Berkeley/Elmhurst	49
Albanian Muslim	Detroit	19,949	Sterling Heights	55
Albanian Muslim	New York	48,123	Pelham Parkway (Bronx)	65
Albanian Muslim	Philadelphia	6,857	Northeast	35
Algerian Arab	Montreal	59,585	Little Maghreb	71
Bambara	New York	5,000	Harlem	69
Bangladeshi	Atlanta	5,839	Doraville	46
Bangladeshi	Dallas Fort Worth	6,355	Irving	47
Bangladeshi	Detroit	11,087	Hamtramck	44
Bangladeshi	Los Angeles	7,362	Little Bangladesh	46
Bangladeshi	Montreal	10,675	Parc Extension	48
Bangladeshi	New York	84,099	Jamaica (Queens)	41
Bangladeshi	Philadelphia	7,295	Hatfield	47
Bangladeshi	Toronto	36,670	Danforth Village	47
Bangladeshi	Washington D.C.	11,798	York Town (Arlington)	48
Belzer Jewish	New York	12,518		86
Bobover Jewish	New York	23,509		90
Bosniak	Atlanta	12,000	Lawrenceville	61
Bosniak	Boston	8,000	Revere	59
Bosniak	Bowling Green	5,000	Morgantown Road	60
Bosniak	Chicago	60,000	Northside	81
Bosniak	Des Moines	10,000	Merle Hay	63
Bosniak	Detroit	10,000	Hamtramck	64
Bosniak	Grand Rapids	10,000	Kentwood	63
Bosniak	Jacksonville	11,000	Hogan	65
Bosniak	New York	12,000	Astoria (Queens)	63
Bosniak	Phoenix	10,000	Glendale	64
Bosniak	Seattle	6,000	Shoreline	60
Bosniak	St. Louis	70,000	Mehlville	79
Bosniak	Toronto	7,120	Etobicoke	61
Bosniak	Utica	5,000	Bleecker St.	60
Breslov Jewish	New York	5,000		86
Bukharan Jewish	New York	60,000		74
Chabad Lubavitch Jewish	New York	27,103		91
Egyptian Arab	Boston	5,359	Dudley Square	23
Egyptian Arab	Chicago	5,784	Hickory Hills	23
Egyptian Arab	Dallas Fort Worth	5,136	Richardson	33
Egyptian Arab	Houston	5,992	Katy	32
Egyptian Arab	Los Angeles	23,765	Anaheim	40
Egyptian Arab	Montreal	9,167	Saint-Laurent	27
Egyptian Arab	New York	56,257	Astoria (Queens)	46
Egyptian Arab	Philadelphia	5,249	Center City	33
Egyptian Arab	San Francisco	7,274	Oakland	27
Egyptian Arab	Toronto	11,637	Mississauga	42
Egyptian Arab	Washington D.C.	12,313	Lanier Heights	25
Fouta Tooro	Cincinnati	5,000	Lockland	75
Fouta Tooro	New York	7,600	Bed-Stuy (Brooklyn)	78
Fulbe Futa	New York	5,000	Morrisania (Bronx	77
Gerer Jewish	New York	8,791		84
Gorsky-Kavkazi Jewish	New York	10,000		89
Gujarati	Atlanta	26,019	Big Creek	52
Gujarati	Boston	16,736	Town of Acton	59
Gujarati	Calgary	6,500	Horizon	52
Gujarati	Charlotte	7,465	Mallard Creek	46
Gujarati	Chicago	53,444	Georgetown	44
Gujarati	Dallas Fort Worth	19,822	Plano	46
Gujarati	Detroit	9,457	Farmington	54
Gujarati	Edmonton	6,730	Strathcona Industrial Park	52
Gujarati	Houston	25,456	Sugar Land	61
Gujarati	Los Angeles	25,666	Woodbury	44
Gujarati	Miami	5,762	Plantation	53
Gujarati	Montreal	6,970	Dollard-Des Ormeaux	55
Gujarati	Orlando	7,603	Willamsburg	52
Gujarati	New York	125,454	Edison (NJ)	70
Gujarati	Philadelphia	36,953	Hatfield	43
Gujarati	Raleigh	8,207	Shiloh	45
Gujarati	San Francisco	29,547	Fremont	52
Gujarati	Tampa	6,001	Brandon	51
Gujarati	Toronto	70,490	Brampton	61
Gujarati	Vancouver	7,075	South Vancouver	58
Gujarati	Washington D.C.	21,491	Calverton	60
Indian Hindi	Atlanta	40,586	Big Creek	36
Indian Hindi	Austin	14,774	Walsh Creek	47
Indian Hindi	Boston	36,888	Town of Acton	55
Indian Hindi	Calgary	20,232	Castleridge	37
Indian Hindi	Charlotte	11,890	Mecklenburg	41
Indian Hindi	Chicago	50,852	West Ridge "Little India"	41
Indian Hindi	Cincinnati	7,450	Clifton Heights	47
Indian Hindi	Cleveland	5,397	Glenwillow	48
Indian Hindi	Columbus, OH	11,924	Polaris	36
Indian Hindi	Dallas Fort Worth	54,777	Frisco	32
Indian Hindi	Denver	7,422	Sedalia	52
Indian Hindi	Detroit	17,706	Troy	54
Indian Hindi	Edmonton	18,855	SE Edmonton	49
Indian Hindi	Hartford	9,534	Rocky Hill	49
Indian Hindi	Houston	37,843	Sugar Land	36
Indian Hindi	Indianapolis	6,429	Wayne Township	51
Indian Hindi	Kansas City	5,455	Overland Park	51
Indian Hindi	Kitchener	8,593	West Mount	36
Indian Hindi	Los Angeles	59,692	Artesia	35
Indian Hindi	Miami	12,747	Plantation	55
Indian Hindi	Twin Cities	7,900	Edina	50
Indian Hindi	Montreal	15,417	Parc Extension	56
Indian Hindi	New York	179,353	Jersey City, Edison	46
Indian Hindi	Orlando	12,718	Williamsburg	50
Indian Hindi	Ottawa	8,658	Napean/Westboro	55
Indian Hindi	Philadelphia	25,586	King of Prussia	56
Indian Hindi	Phoenix	16,149	Chandler-Kirby Estates	55
Indian Hindi	Pittsburgh	6,861	Marshall Township	48
Indian Hindi	Portland	7,433	Bethany	43
Indian Hindi	Raleigh	11,417	Morrisville	45
Indian Hindi	Sacramento	14,943	Valley Hi/North Laguna	44
Indian Hindi	St.Louis	6,101	Ballwin	44
Indian Hindi	San Diego	11,739	Miramar	49
Indian Hindi	San Francisco	153,853	Fremont	43
Indian Hindi	Seattle	31,712	Bellevue	31
Indian Hindi	Tampa	7,828	Brandon	52
Indian Hindi	Toronto	150,062	Etobicoke	45
Indian Hindi	Vancouver	49,718	South Vancouver	37
Indian Hindi	Washington D.C.	66,808	Ellicott city	47
Indian Hindi	Winnipeg	10,649	Colony (Little India)	53
Indonesian	Los Angeles	7,500	San Bernardino	29
Iraqi Arab	Atlanta	5,000	Clarkston	38
Iraqi Arab	Austin	7,963	Pflugerville	43
Iraqi Arab	Chicago	11,476	Northbrook	53
Iraqi Arab	Dallas Fort Worth	11,319	Richardson	41
Iraqi Arab	Detroit	68,626	East Dearborn	57
Iraqi Arab	Houston	11,914	Mid-West	41
Iraqi Arab	Los Angeles	5,771	Glendale	39
Iraqi Arab	New York	8,443	Astoria (Queens)	47
Iraqi Arab	Phoenix	19,457	Northern Village	43
Iraqi Arab	San Antonio	5,180	Alamo Heights	38
Iraqi Arab	San Diego	25,923	El Cajon	57
Iraqi Arab	San Francisco	7,913	Modesto	39
Iraqi Arab	Toronto	10,732	Vaughan	45
Iraqi Arab	Washington D.C.	9,685	Lanier Heights	42
Israeli Sabra Jewish	Los Angeles	18,885	Pico Robertson & Fairfax	60
Israeli Sabra Jewish	Miami	12,299	Plantation	54
Israeli Sabra Jewish	New York	36,720		66
Israeli Sabra Jewish	San Francisco	9,384	Sunnyvale	51
Israeli Sabra Jewish	Toronto	9,750	North York	49
Jordanian Arab	Chicago	9,519	Bridgeview	40
Jordanian Arab	Detroit	7,132	East Dearborn	37
Jordanian Arab	Los Angeles	7,184	Anaheim	33
Jordanian Arab	New York	8,192	Astoria (Queens)	25
Jula	New York	5,000	Harlem	69
Kabyle Berber	Montreal	29,174	Longue-Pointe	49
Kazakh	New York	5,969	Brighton Beach (Brooklyn)	50
Kurd	Dallas Fort Worth	6,500	South Arlington	52
Kurd	Nashville	15,000	Elysian Fields	53
Kurd	Toronto	6,630	York	50
Kyrgyz	Chicago	15,000	Des Plaines	71
Kyrgyz	New York	5,000	Brighton Beach (Brooklyn)	68
Lebanese Arab	Boston	22,539	Somerville	35
Lebanese Arab	Chicago	5,681	Bridgeview	47
Lebanese Arab	Cleveland	6,012	West Cleveland	28
Lebanese Arab	Dallas Fort Worth	5,671	Richardson	27
Lebanese Arab	Detroit	33,099	East Dearborn	42
Lebanese Arab	Houston	6,622	Mid West	27
Lebanese Arab	Los Angeles	18,893	Monterey Park	35
Lebanese Arab	Miami	7,622	Upper Eastside	47
Lebanese Arab	Montreal	20,607	Saint-Laurent	39
Lebanese Arab	New York	20,901	Paterson	34
Lebanese Arab	Ottawa	8,855	South Ottawa	31
Lebanese Arab	Toronto	7,595	Mississauga	32
Lebanese Arab	Washington D.C.	9,239	Woodley Park	33
Mandinka	New York	5,000	Highbridge (Bronx)	81
Maninka	New York	5,000	Concourse (Bronx)	76
Persian Jewish (Mashadi)	New York	5,000		88
Moroccan Arab	Boston	12,602	Malden	46
Moroccan Arab	Chicago	5,000	Bridgeview	44
Moroccan Arab	Detroit	6,660	Hamtramck	37
Moroccan Arab	Los Angeles	7,272	Central LA-Beverly Wood	44
Moroccan Arab	Miami	9,651	Upper Eastside	47
Moroccan Arab	Montreal	60,775	Little Maghreb	72
Moroccan Arab	New York	41,356	Astoria (Queens)	57
Moroccan Arab	Philadelphia	6,114	Center City	41
Moroccan Arab	Washington D.C.	28,279	Brockwood	50
Moroccan Jewish	Toronto	5,000	North York	83
Moroccan Jewish	Montreal	10,000	Hampstead	64
Indo-Pak Muslims	Atlanta	26,175	Roswell	40
Indo-Pak Muslims	Austin	9,336	Northwest Austin	39
Indo-Pak Muslims	Boston	20,368	Cambridge	44
Indo-Pak Muslims	Calgary	17,785	Castleridge	44
Indo-Pak Muslims	Chicago	57,031	Skokie	36
Indo-Pak Muslims	Dallas Fort Worth	43,274	Plano	47
Indo-Pak Muslims	Detroit	19,726	Canton	37
Indo-Pak Muslims	Edmonton	8,815	Blue Quill	36
Indo-Pak Muslims	Houston	54,218	Sugarland	47
Indo-Pak Muslims	Kitchener	5,735	Cambridge	39
Indo-Pak Muslims	Los Angeles	43,766	Central LA	37
Indo-Pak Muslims	Miami	12,668	Miramar-Pimebrook Pines	50
Indo-Pak Muslims	Montreal	10,990	Parc Extension	47
Indo-Pak Muslims	New York	171,011	Midwood (Brooklyn)	50
Indo-Pak Muslims	Orlando	7,808	Florida Center	48
Indo-Pak Muslims	Ottawa	10,990	Sandy Hill	46
Indo-Pak Muslims	Philadelphia	25,830	Delran	34
Indo-Pak Muslims	Sacramento	14,165	North Oak Park	45
Indo-Pak Muslims	San Francisco	74,602	Diamond Heights	45
Indo-Pak Muslims	Seattle	17,439	Meridian	42
Indo-Pak Muslims	Toronto	134,195	East York	51
Indo-Pak Muslims	Washington D.C.	68,892	Fairfax County, Mt. Vernon	48
Indo-Pak Muslims	Vancouver	10,495	Burnaby and Surrey	47
Palestinian Arab	Chicago	20,612	Bridgeview	42
Palestinian Arab	Cleveland	7,016	North Olmstead	37
Palestinian Arab	Dallas Fort Worth	6,126	Richardson	38
Palestinian Arab	Detroit	6,177	Livonia	33
Palestinian Arab	Houston	6,534	Mid West	35
Palestinian Arab	Los Angeles	13,593	Anaheim	40
Palestinian Arab	New York	16,253	South Paterson (NJ)	42
Palestinian Arab	San Francisco	10,855	Soma	42
Palestinian Arab	Toronto	10,271	Mississauga	41
Palestinian Arab	Washington D.C.	7,223	Lanier Heights	38
Persian	Atlanta	9,429	Cobb	10
Persian	Boston	7,746	Malden	29
Persian	Calgary	6,385	Sunalta	22
Persian	Chicago	10,193	Lincolnwood	23
Persian	Dallas Fort Worth	13,939	Plano	21
Persian	Houston	14,742	Woodlake/Briar Meadow	21
Persian	Los Angeles	127,713	Tehrangeles	43
Persian	Miami	6,085	Doral	32
Persian	Montreal	23,705	Notre Dame de Grâce	24
Persian	New York	30,520	Great Neck (Long Island)	33
Persian	Ottawa	8,185	Bayshore	32
Persian	Portland	6,672	Pearl District	22
Persian	Philadelphia	5,760	Gladwyne	20
Persian	Phoenix	5,479	Scottsdale	20
Persian	Sacramento	8,100	El Dorado Hills	17
Persian	San Diego	19,882	La Jolla	21
Persian	San Francisco	50,170	San Mateo	25
Persian	Seattle	12,287	Bellevue	16
Persian	Toronto	88,195	North York	40
Persian	Vancouver	45,815	West Vancouver	23
Persian	Washington D.C.	30,426	Tysons Corner	26
Punjabi Sikh	Abbotsford	28,235	Clearbrook	49
Punjabi Sikh	Bakersfield, CA	10,000	Panama	56
Punjabi Sikh	Calgary	56,055	Castleridge	61
Punjabi Sikh	Chicago	9,137	West Ridge	58
Punjabi Sikh	Dallas Fort Worth	12,285	Irving	51
Punjabi Sikh	Detroit	8,733	Canton	56
Punjabi Sikh	Edmonton	44,440	Southeast Edmonton	67
Punjabi Sikh	Fresno	8,732	Muscatel	47
Punjabi Sikh	Hamilton	9,590	Grayside	51
Punjabi Sikh	Houston	8,964	Willowbrook	51
Punjabi Sikh	Indianapolis	8,789	McCordsville	55
Punjabi Sikh	Los Angeles	32,347	Buena Park	59
Punjabi Sikh	Montreal	22,990	Parc Extension	58
Punjabi Sikh	New York	78,408	Richmond Hill (Queens)	69
Punjabi Sikh	Philadelphia	10,266	Millbourne	55
Punjabi Sikh	Sacramento	52,754	South Sacramento	55
Punjabi Sikh	San Francisco	100,118	Fremont	77
Punjabi Sikh	Seattle	24,757	Kent	68
Punjabi Sikh	Toronto	244,240	Brampton	75
Punjabi Sikh	Vancouver	222,160	Surrey	65
Punjabi Sikh	Washington D.C.	20,886	Fairfax	48
Punjabi Sikh	Winnipeg	33,345	The Maples	45
Pupa Jewish	New York	8,825		90
Sanzer Jewish	New York	7,006		88
Satmar Jewish	New York	156,744		99
Saudi Arab	Chicago	5,470	Dekalb County	74
Saudi Arab	Dallas Fort Worth	5,457	Denton	74
Saudi Arab	Houston	5,420	River Oaks	74
Saudi Arab	Los Angeles	5,497	Irvine	74
Saudi Arab	New York	6,573	Bayridge	74
Saudi Arab	Washington D.C.	6,606	Vienna	74
Skver Jewish	New York	17,678		91
Somali	Calgary	6,450	Northeast Calgary	63
Somali	Columbus, OH	45,000	Northland	79
Somali	Edmonton	26,580	McCauley	75
Somali	Twin Cities	80,000	Cedar-Riverside	73
Somali	Nashville	5,000	Southeast Nashville	61
Somali	Ottawa	25,330	Ridgemont	75
Somali	San Diego	15,000	City Heights	72
Somali	Seattle	30,000	SeaTac	77
Somali	Toronto	56,700	Etobicoke	77
Somali	Vancouver	5,048	Newton	60
Somali Bantu	Columbus, OH	5,000	West side	85
Somali Bantu	Toronto	6,000	Etobicoke	86
Soninke	New York	15,000	Highbridge (Bronx)	85
Soninke	Cincinnati	5,000	Westwood	76
Sri Lankan Sinhalese	Los Angeles	5,259	Reseda	40
Sri Lankan Sinhalese	New York	7,934	Tompkinsville (SI)	32
Sri Lankan Sinhalese	Toronto	16,300	Scarborough	38
Syrian Arabs	Boston	7,378	Quincy	36
Syrian Arabs	Chicago	6,902	Rogers Park	35
Syrian Arabs	Detroit	6,448	East Dearborn	36
Syrian Arabs	Los Angeles	11,474	Anaheim	37
Syrian Arabs	Montreal	16,248	Ahuntsic-Cartierville	39
Syrian Arabs	New York	18,151	Bay Ridge (Brooklyn)	38
Syrian Jewish	New York	75,000		96
Persian Jewish (Tehrani)	Los Angeles	40,000		88
Persian Jewish (Tehrani)	New York	20,000		86
Tamil	Atlanta	16,591	Cumming	46
Tamil	Austin	10,854	North Austin	50
Tamil	Boston	15,024	Shrewsbury	43
Tamil	Charlotte	5,484	Ballantyne	40
Tamil	Chicago	15,122	Napierville	37
Tamil	Dallas Fort Worth	30,905	Frisco	41
Tamil	Detroit	8,077	Troy	36
Tamil	Houston	11,069	Pearland	38
Tamil	Los Angeles	14,659	Arcadia	37
Tamil	Montreal	14,035	Pierrefonds - Dollard	37
Tamil	New York	46,368	Bridgewater	44
Tamil	Philadelphia	10,882	Exton	39
Tamil	Phoenix	13,293	Chandler	47
Tamil	Raleigh	7,028	Cary/Morrisville	44
Tamil	San Francisco	56,722	South Bay	44
Tamil	Seattle	10,284	Bothell	41
Tamil	Twin Cities	6,643	Hopkins	45
Tamil	Washington D.C.	22,860	Montgomery County, MD	42
Telugu	Atlanta	27,005	Cumming	38
Telugu	Austin	15,711	Cedar Park	44
Telugu	Boston	15,309	Walpole	44
Telugu	Charlotte	11,416	Ballantyne	44
Telugu	Chicago	23,327	Schaumburg	47
Telugu	Columbus, OH	9,429	Dublin	48
Telugu	Dallas Fort Worth	47,850	Irving	42
Telugu	Detroit	13,208	Novi	35
Telugu	Houston	16,933	Sugarland	36
Telugu	Los Angeles	13,952	Irvine	36
Telugu	Montreal	14,035	Pierrefonds - Dollard	53
Telugu	New York	59,876	South Brunswick, NJ	38
Telugu	Philadelphia	16,397	Exton	35
Telugu	Phoenix	8,599	Chandler	34
Telugu	Raleigh	13,771	Morrisville	35
Telugu	San Francisco	73,916	Sunnyvale	46
Telugu	St. Louis	7,187	Maryland Heights	41
Telugu	Seattle	14,749	Bellevue	50
Telugu	Tampa	7,489	Temple Terrace	56
Telugu	Toronto	15,155	Etobicoke	33
Telugu	Twin Cities	5,669	Eden Prairie	43
Telugu	Washington D.C.	40,764	Ashburn	49
Thai	Chicago	8,240	Albany Park	29
Thai	Dallas Fort Worth	5,389	City Place	19
Thai	Las Vegas	5,480	Paradise	25
Thai	Los Angeles	32,211	East Hollywood (Thai Town)	20
Thai	New York	12,916	Elmhurst (Queens)	22
Thai	San Francisco	10,497	Civic Center	29
Thai	Seattle	6,356	University District	24
Thai	Washington D.C.	10,324	Shaw	27
Tibetan	Twin Cities	5,000	Northeast	70
Tibetan	New York	13,000	Jackson Heights (Queens)	77
Tibetan	Toronto	8,000	South Parkdale	74
Tunisian Arab	Montreal	18,970	Little Maghreb	74
Turk	Atlanta	5,122	Sandy Springs	56
Turk	Boston	6,462	North Brookline	57
Turk	Chicago	7,361	Mount Prospect	56
Turk	Houston	5,324	Memorial Park	56
Turk	Los Angeles	11,500	Culver City	58
Turk	Miami	8,102	Miami Beach	56
Turk	Montreal	13,895	Nouveau-Rosemont	62
Turk	New York	41,367	South Paterson (NJ)	57
Turk	Philadelphia	7,179	Riverside (NJ)	57
Turk	San Francisco	12,810	Sunnyvale	59
Turk	Toronto	28,490	Mississauga	68
Turk	Vancouver	6,305	Richmond	56
Turk	Washington D.C.	12,918	Fairfax	59
Uyghur	Washington D.C.	5,000	Fairfax County	65
Uzbek	New York	32,999	Brighton Beach (Brooklyn)	37
Vizhnitz Jewish	New York	18,382		90
Wolof	New York	20,000	Harlem	81
Yemeni Arab	Detroit	25,000	Hamtramck	72
Yemeni Arab	New York	20,000	Bay Ridge (Brooklyn)	72
Yemeni Arab	San Francisco	10,000	Oakland	62
Yeshivish Jewish	Chicago	5,894	West Rogers Park	68
Yeshivish Jewish	Los Angeles	13,600	Hancock Park	74
Yeshivish Jewish	Miami	10,726	North Miami Beach	72
Yeshivish Jewish	New York	120,000		91
Yeshivish Jewish	Toronto	16,000	York	75
Yeshivish Jewish	Washington D.C.	9,921	Glen (Baltimore)	70
Figures for matrix score formula (don't delete)

Helpful resources for sharing Jesus with Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhists

Resource	Description	Link
Bible.is	Audio and written Bible in Sinhala.
JESUS Film	JESUS film in Sinhala.
Magdalena Film	JESUS Film adaptation with honor/shame theme. Particularly helpful sharing with women. In Sinhala.
Global Recording Network	Audio Bible stories and resources in Sinhala.
Got Questions	Bible questions answered in Sinhala.
Bible for Children	Audio and Video Biblical Resources for Children in Sinhala

Sri Lankan Sinhalese in North America

Adam’s Peak, located in central Sri Lanka, is considered a sacred place by several religions. The mountain has a unique dip at the top known as “Sri Pada” or sacred footprint. Buddhists believe these are the footprints of Buddha as he was going to paradise.

Did You Know?

Religious Life

Lipton Tea, founded in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), traces its roots back to Sir Thomas Lipton's purchase of a plantation. To this day, Lipton incorporates Ceylon tea, sourced from Sri Lanka, into many of its products, maintaining a strong connection to its origins.

Did You Know?

These are the Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhist communities in North America most in need of gospel witness

Helpful resources for sharing Jesus with Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhists

Interested in reaching Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhists? Have a suggested edit or want to help? Contact us!

100,000 Yemenis

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350,000 Bosniaks

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300,000 Somalis

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900,000to 1,500,000 Sikhs

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400,000 Afghans

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Estimated 40,000 Kurds in the United States and 23,000Kurds in Canada

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Between 290,000 and 350,000 Turks living in North America

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1,252,000

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community estimates the diaspora to be around 66,000 Wolof

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Approximately 940,000 Gujaratis call North America home

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1,781,000

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approximately68,000

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168,000

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323,700Moroccan Arabs

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approximately 344,000

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80,000Tunisian Arabs

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168,000

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221,000 Thai in North America

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247,000 Arabs of Egyptian origin in North America

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nearly 600,000

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12,000 Somali Bantus

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193,000 Albanian Muslims

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344,000 Lebanese Muslims

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221,000

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over 177,000

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55,800 Jordanian Arabs

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approximately 72,000people

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52,000 Moroccan Jews

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7,250,000 people, with approximately 30,000 in Canada

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30,000+ Soninke

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numbering around 124,000

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10,000 Mandinka

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Over 20,000 Fouta Tooro

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5,000-member Mashadi Jewish community

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15,000-20,000 Bambara

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15,000-20,000 Bambara