Most Immigrants During the 1900s Came From Which Continent?

Prior to the Civil War, most immigrants to the United States came from Western Europe. After the Civil War, immigration from different parts of Asia began to increase, particularly among West Coast states. Despite the influx of people in the United States from around the world, immigration rates among Europeans continued to outpace immigration rates from other continents through the middle of the 20th century.

In the 1900s, approximately 1 million immigrants entered the United States each year. Early settlers mostly came from Great Britain and Germany, with steadily increasing numbers from Italy and Spain. Though immigration from Asia gradually increased throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, European immigrants accounted for more than 75 percent of all immigrants entering the United States in each decade up until 1960.