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Throughout it’s nearly 400-year history, New York City’s demography has been characterized by an ever-changing series of immigration waves, coming from all corners of the globe. The graphic shows how these waves of immigration have varied over time. The circles represent each group’s share of New York City’s foreign-born population in the given year. What

European exploration of the African coast began in the 13th century when Portugal committed itself to discover an alternative route to the silk road that would lead to China. In the 14th and 15th century, Portuguese explorers traveled down the west African Coast, detailing and mapping the coastline and in 1488 they rounded the Cape

In Europe the oversas immigration was tied to colonial migration traditions which created overseas expansion in its early stage. Apart from free settlers who paid their own costs of travelling and state employees, church and settlement companies employees, contractual labourers made a significant portion of people who traveled from NorthWest Europe to America in the 16th