 Of the 48 Algerians who became Americans in 1984, 12 settled in California looking better education or to flee instability and religious persecution.Employment opportunities for professionals such as scientists, physicians and academics result in a geographically wide settlement pattern of immigrants, often in communities without other Algerian Americans.Algerian Americans also have created communities in universities, cities, and urban areas, such as New York City, Washington, D.C, Austin, Houston, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, San Diego, and the Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles.