Providence Metropolitan Area - Demographics

Demographics

The Metro Area is marked by large populations of Irish-American, Italian-American, and French Canadians French-American throughout the region. The Irish form the largest group in Newport, and Washington Counties. The Italians in Kent, and southern Providence County. the French in northern and western Providence county. All groups however can be found throughout the region in large numbers.

Also included are very large concentrations of Lusophone populations across the region with the largest density being from East Providence to New Bedford. The two Bristol counties (RI, and MA) are the only two counties in America where Portuguese-Americans form a plurality of the Population.

Pockets of English and Scots-Irish Americans are found in rural areas of the region such as South County where they are known locally as "Swamp Yankees", and also in towns such as Barrington, East Greenwich and the East Side of Providence.

Other Groups include Poles, Swedes, Germans, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Arabs (especially Lebanese and Syrians).

More recent immigrant groups include continued migrations from Portugal, Cape Verde, Brazil, and other Lusophone nations, South East Asia specifically Laos, Cambodia, Hmong (mostly from Vietnam), small but growing Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations, and the Former Soviet Union.

However, the largest group of recent immigrants has been Latino. The Latino population is very diverse with older populations of Puerto Ricans (many 3rd and 4th generation) being joined more recently by significant and growing Dominican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Mexican, Colombian, Venezuelan and Bolivian communities. Providence, RI holds the distinction of being the first city where a native born Dominican was elected to the Senate in the state of Rhode Island.