APNewsBreak: Study finds Amish expanding into new areas as population growth continues
By Mark Scolforo, APWednesday, July 28, 2010
APNewsBreak: Study says Amish expanding westward
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The population of Amish is growing in North America, and their search for affordable, fertile farmland is sending them into new areas to accommodate a population currently estimated at 249,000.
A study to be released Wednesday by Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies shows settlements in 28 states and Ontario. Amish have even been scouting for land recently in Alaska and Mexico.
The number of Amish has increased nearly 10 percent in the past two years alone, and it’s more than doubled since 1992.
Nearly all Amish are descended from a group of about 5,000 in the early 20th century.
Online:
Elizabethtown College Amish Studies: www2.etown.edu/amishstudies/
