The Budapest Times

HAC: US Hungarian community numbers 1.4 million

Written by BT/MTI
According to the latest census in the United States, over 1.4 million American citizens have declared themselves to be "Hungarian or of Hungarian origin", the head of the Hungarian American Coalition said in an interview given to the Hungarian public media on the occasion of the Day of National Cohesion.

Andrea Lauer Rice said the Hungarian community in the US had 100 organisations, 78 churches, 33 Hungarian schools, 25 scout organisations, and 12 cultural centres. She added that nearly all states had a Hungarian community.

Lauer Rice, who is the US head of the Hungarian Diaspora Council, said the council was “a kind of global Hungarian network” with members learning from and helping each other.

Concerning challenges facing US Hungarians, Lauer Rice mentioned issues around involving the younger generations, with special regard to those not speaking Hungarian. She noted that one million people out of America’s 1.4 million strong Hungarian community no longer spoke the mother tongue, “typically being second, third, or fourth generation Americans”. “However, they are fully aware of their roots and it is important that the Hungarian heritage is passed onto them through organisations of the diaspora,” she added.

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