Where are the Indos today? Results from the 2012 Indo Survey.

By Jamie D. Stern, Director of Research

The Indo Project is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and celebration of Indo culture and history through education and raising public awareness.  We present information that allows the world to see that we are an identifiable people, despite our world-wide dispersion due to expulsion from our homeland.  Celebration of who we are, and of our place in the world are necessary and needed elements that will benefit us all in the quest to raise awareness about the Indo people.

Through the invaluable response of individuals who participated in the 2012 Indo Survey, we have been able to establish a stronger geographical base and distribution of our scattered Indo community. This survey is allowing us to construct our demographic profile for all the world to see.   Additionally, the results of this survey have begun to answer other salient questions such as marriage patterns into the non-Indo population, achievements in education, responsiveness of the younger generation to their Indo heritage and much more.   We send a sincere and grateful “thank you” to all who participated in – what has become –a groundbreaking survey.  For those individuals interested in sharing their information to help us grow the geographical data, please contact me at jamies@theindoproject.org or visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IndoMap.

The end of the 2012 survey is by no means the end to gathering data but rather just one of many steps in our journey. Some day we hope to have the input from thousands more from our Indo community.  For now, this is the first of many articles that will present the 2012 Indo Survey results.

NOTE: All results show the processed data and do not share any personal information.

“Where are the Indos today?”

Over the last few years, my work at The Indo Project Inc. has focused on tracking the patterns of Indo demographics. Our primary question at hand has been, “Where are all the Indos?” With the use of the internet through social networking platforms, we (the Indo people) are actively bridging the gap and bringing members of our culture closer together despite our distance and scattered geography. Through the 2012 Indo Survey, a survey that was conducted entirely through the internet, The Indo Project Inc. was able to construct for the first time ever, maps that illustrate our people’s geography. There were 1,061 respondents, 65% of them were from within the US and 35% from other nations. This information, altruistically given by the survey participants, is allowing us to begin painting a clearer picture of where we are as a culture and community today.

The US Indo Population

In the United States, the Indo population spans the continent from the east coast to the west, with most of the population concentrated in metropolitan areas. The largest population cluster appears to be in Southern California with 56% of the US survey participants[1] residing there.  More than 40 years ago, in 1971, D. H. Hoffmeyer[2] of the Netherlands Consulate in Los Angeles estimated that there were approximately 60,000 Indos residing in the US with “the majority of whom to be found in Southern California.” It is clear that the biggest concentration in the US is still in Southern California.

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[1] Note that the method of random sampling used to gauge the population profile and collect data was unbiased; the survey was available on the internet and viewable worldwide from February 2012 through the end of December 2012.

[1] Cited in Greta Kwik, “The Indos in Southern California,” AMS Press, New York, 1989

Figure 1.

The following table summarizes the map data.   Indos are identified in 38 states and the District of Columbia. The most substantial state populations, other than California (56%), came from Florida (5.1%), Texas (4.5%), Washington (4.3%), Oregon (4%), Massachusetts (2.8%), Arizona (2.5%), Colorado (2.2%), Nevada (1.7%) and New York (1.5%).

Through statistical evaluation, we estimate that we have only heard from 1% of the Indo population in the US. Though this is a substantial amount of information to begin constructing geography patterns of the Indo population, more Indo locations would enhance the effectiveness of our map. At The Indo Project Inc. we are striving to preserve the Indo history and perpetuate it for future generations. By being able to identify where Indos are we will be able to spread knowledge and awareness that will help members within and people outside of our micro-minority to recognize and celebrate Indo heritage.

If you see your state and feel it is under represented, please go to this link to add your data:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IndoMap

“Worldwide, what does the Indo Population pattern look like?”

Depicted in Figure 3 are the results. As can be seen, the Indos are well dispersed. Using the survey participants to cross reference each other’s answers, it became clear those areas such as Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands (and Europe), the United States, and Canada have the most sizable Indo populations:  Many in the Indo community have so hypothesized for years.

The survey asked all participants if they knew up to 25 Indos in any of the following countries/geographical areas:

[1] Note that the method of random sampling used to gauge the population profile and collect data was unbiased; the survey was available on the internet and viewable worldwide from February 2012 through the end of December 2012.

[2] Cited in Greta Kwik, “The Indos in Southern California,” AMS Press, New York, 1989