History of the Iranians in Los Angeles

Los Angeles (and Southern California in general) is home to a large Iranian-American community. With population estimates between 300,000 and half a million, Southern California boasts the largest concentration of Iranians in the world, outside of Iran.

Iranian immigrants began arriving in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. As the 1979 Iranian Revolution unfolded, large numbers of Iranians fled Iran. Many of them settled in Los Angeles. Many Iranian immigrants, including Muslims, Christians, and Jews, originated from the upper classes.

Los Angeles was ideal for Iranians because it reminded them of home. The "landscape, the car culture, [and] the mountains" was similar to what was found in 1970s Iran, says Dr. Reza Aslan.

Over the years, the Iranian community expanded across Southern California, with large numbers settling in Beverly Hills, the San Fernando Valley, Irvine and greater Orange County, as well as the Inland Empire.

Regarding Iranian-Americans of Armenian origin, the 1980 US Census put the number of Armenians living in Los Angeles at 52,400, of which 71.9% were foreign born: 14.7% in Iran, 14.3% in the USSR, 11.5% in Lebanon, 9.7% in Turkey, 11.7% in other Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, etc.), and the rest in other parts of the world.

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