Yazidis find refuge in Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska is home to the largest Yazidi community in the United States.

The Yazidis are ethnically a Kurdish group but differ from other Kurds in that they practice Yazidism. Their religion in an ancient faith that integrates elements of Islam with Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. Their distinct faith has made them the target of persecution by Muslim neighbors throughout history, and the attacks are surfacing again as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gains control of Northwestern Iraq, the location of the Yazidi homeland.

Many Yazidis have found refuge in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is now home to the largest Yazidi community in the United States. As the prospects of returning to their homeland now look grim, the community seeks to form a burial ground here in the US.

Nebraksa's Largest Ethnic Groups

Germans are by far Nebraska's largest ethnic group. Almost 40% of state residents have a German background, more than twice the percentage of the next largest ethnicity.

Rank	Ethnicity	2010 Nebraska Population	As a Percent of Total Nebraska Population
	Total Population	1,830,429	100.00%
1	German	721,504	39.42%
2	Irish	256,551	14.02%
3	English	168,590	9.21%
4	Mexican	130,121	7.11%
5	Czech	91,838	5.02%
6	Swedish	87,106	4.76%
7	American	79,648	4.35%
8	African-American*	63,971	3.49%
9	Polish	63,840	3.49%
10	Danish	50,328	2.75%
11	Italian	49,825	2.72%
12	French, except Basque	46,931	2.56%
13	Norwegian	37,264	2.04%
14	Dutch	36,178	1.98%
15	Scottish	23,653	1.29%
16	European	18,494	1.01%
17	Scotch-Irish	16,951	0.93%
18	Welsh	12,958	0.71%
19	Russian	11,982	0.65%
20	Salvadoran	10,772	0.59%
21	Guatemalan	8,601	0.47%
22	Swiss	7,827	0.43%
23	Vietnamese	6,976	0.38%
24	African	6,693	0.37%
25	Asian Indian	6,093	0.33%
26	Czechoslovakian	5,750	0.31%
27	French Canadian	5,193	0.28%
28	Chinese, including Taiwanese	5,045	0.28%
29	Puerto Rican	4,991	0.27%
30	Scandinavian	4,660	0.25%
31	British	4,227	0.23%
32	Sioux	4,014	0.22%
33	Korean	3,579	0.20%
34	Sudanese	3,454	0.19%
35	Austrian	3,320	0.18%
36	Greek	3,077	0.17%
37	Hungarian	3,040	0.17%
38	Iraqi	2,888	0.16%
39	Lithuanian	2,597	0.14%
40	Filipino	2,391	0.13%
41	Spaniard	2,365	0.13%
42	Somalian	2,283	0.12%
43	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	2,257	0.12%
44	Croatian	2,151	0.12%
45	Finnish	2,005	0.11%
46	Ukrainian	1,815	0.10%
47	Belgian	1,813	0.10%
48	Honduran	1,639	0.09%
49	Canadian	1,636	0.09%
50	Northern European	1,558	0.09%

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey

1 year estimates, tables: B02001, C02005, B02006, C02007, B03001, B03002, B04006

* African-American is derived as respondents selecting Black as racial group after removing African, West Indian, and Hispanic ethnicities.