Telugu diaspora

తెలుగు
Telugu Diaspora

Total population
(110 million (est.))
Regions with significant populations
India	84,655,538
United States of America	250,000
Malaysia	111,000
Gulf countries	500,000
Myanmar	139,000
Canada	3,865
Europe	130,440
Fiji	34,000
Singapore	800
Australia	10,000
South Africa	4,500
Mauritius	19,000
Languages
Telugu (తెలుగు)
Religion
Hinduism · Christianity · Islam · Buddhism · Jainism

The Telugu Diaspora refers to the Telugu speaking people of Indian States living predominantly in North America, Europe, Australia, West Indies, Gulf, Africa and other regions around the world.

The Telugu Boom

The Telugu Boom refers to the migration of a large number of Telugu speaking people from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to the United States of America and Canada from late 80s largely consisting of the migration of students and Information Technology workers which continues to the present day.

Background

With the onset of IT revolution in the late 1980s and 1990s coupled with high unemployment and corruption led more families to send their undergraduate children for higher studies to universities of developed countries on better job prospects. This was also supported with F1 visas program of USA and similar programs of other countries such as Canada and UK. The Y2K problem and Indian government's Software Technology Park initiative also helped many small companies to set up shops in Hyderabad that helped prospective employees to use H-1B Visa program.

Types of Telugus in the United States

Typical classification of Telugus who are presently staying in the United States into the following categories:

(a) Students who are pursuing higher studies.

(b) Persons who obtained their undergraduate/postgraduate education in the USA and settled down as permanent residents.

(c) Persons who entered the US as professionals.

Apart from the above categories, dependents form a major chunk of the Telugu population in the United States.

Places of origin

The major portion of the Telugus in the US has their origins in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Since the formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh and before, the Coastal Andhra was far developed than the other two regions of the state. The differences are due to the availability of natural resources and fertile land on the Coast. The areas of the Telangana and Rayalaseema were more under feudalism and are the most backward regions of the state. As a part of the Madras Presidency, the coastal districts availed with the benefit of formal education with English as the medium of instruction in college/university education. It is initially from the coastal Andhra Pradesh that a large number of doctors emigrated to the United States during the early 1960s followed by the engineers, teachers and students. But the scale of emigration reached its peak during 1980s and 1990s, from all Telugu speaking regions, i.e., Telangana, Coastal Andhra, Kalingandhra (North Eastern Andhra) and Rayalaseema with the enormous employment opportunities for the software professionals in the United States.

Effects of the Migration on the society of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad predominantly regional banks of the state of AP have reported rise in Non Resident Indian deposits over the last decade.

The Chilkur Balaji Temple, especially exists for Visa seekers in the city of Hyderabad. These visa seekers usually plan to go the USA.

Popular & Slang Terms

Gult (short for gulute is derived as reverse of the word Telugu taken two letters at a time is popular in Indian circles in schools and workplaces.

See also

• Telugu people
• Andhra Pradesh
• Telangana
• Telugu Language
• Telugu language policy

External links

• Telangana NRI Association TeNA