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The reasons for immigrating are highly varied. Roughly equal numbers cite educationalopportunities (26%), economic opportunities (24%), and family reasons (24%) for moving to theU.S. An additional 20% say they came to the U.S. because of conflict or persecution in theirhome country. Conflict or persecution is cited as a reason for immigrating by roughly equalshares of those emigrating from Iran (26%), Arab nations (19%) and South Asian countries(19%).Despite the heavy presence of immigrants among the Muslim population, more thanthree-quarters (77%) of all U.S. Muslims are American citizens. In addition to the 35% who arecitizens by birth, a 65% majority of those who were born outside of the U.S. report that they arenow naturalized citizens. The vast majority of immigrant Muslims who arrived prior to 1990have been naturalized (92%), as have most of those who arrived during the 1990s (70%). Amongmore recent arrivals (2000 and later), 22% so far have become citizens.Gender and AgeEstimating the proportion of male and femaleMuslims in America is more complicated than it may seem.Previous surveys of Muslim Americans – including the selfidentifiedMuslims reached in the Pew Research Center’snationwide surveys over the past decade – tended tocomplete more interviews with male Muslims than femaleMuslims. However, potential cultural factors – in particular,the possibility that some Muslims consider it inappropriatefor Muslim women to be interviewed by a stranger,especially if the interviewer is male – make these unreliableas measures of the overall gender balance among U.S.Muslims. 2Sex, Age, and Family StatusU.S. GeneralMuslims public% %Male 54 48Female 46 52100 10018-29 30 2130-39 26 1940-54 31 3055+ 13 30Married 60 57Divorced 6 11Separated 3 2Widowed 3 6Never married 28 24General public figures based on U.S.Census Bureau data.For this reason, the current survey asked Muslimrespondents for information about the number of people living in their household, and the genderand religious affiliation of each person. When compiled, these figures indicate that 54% of alladult Muslims in the U.S. are male, while 46% are female.The survey’s finding that most adult Muslims in the U.S. are male is consistent with U.S.Census data on immigrants from majority-Muslim nations. Males constitute a majority ofimmigrants from several Muslim nations that are the source of significant numbers of peoplecoming to the U.S.2 The current survey made an effort to avoid this problem by matching female interviewers with female respondentswhenever possible. See the methodology chapter for a more extensive discussion of this issue.16 MUSLIM AMERICANS