Coffee and a history lesson - all at the same stop

This morning, Karyn and I were driving into work and we decided to stop at a neighborhood coffee joint called "Kefa Cafe". I went in by myself and was greeted by an incredibly friendly Ethiopian woman. She was so friendly and had pictures of her relatives and kids and their life in America on the wall.

This reinforced my interest in learning about ethnic populations in the world's cities.

For those of who don't know, the Washington DC area is home to the largest Ethiopian population in the world outside of Ethiopian (and of course the largest Eritrean population as well, but that Civil War can be another post). So what led me to be interested in learning about these unique ethnic migrations where so many of one group settle in a far off place? The answer surprise surprise is in my aviation interest. For years I have looked at route networks of international carriers and there have always been reasons to question why a certain airline flies a certain route? Ethiopian Airlines will serve Washington Dulles six times weekly this summer from Addis Ababa (stops in Rome)

By analyzing airline maps and learning more about the world, I have learned the following:

• Sao Paulo - The largest Japanese community outside of Japan (estimated to be 1 million of direct or indirect Japanese descendants) and the largest Lebanese population outside of Lebanon (estimated at 850,000 but over 7 million are of Lebanese descent). Japan Air Lines serves Sao Paulo over New York and Emirates recently announced service to Sao Paulo to help connect the Middle Eastern population.
• Melbourne - Due to an influx in immigration from the Mediterranean after World War II, Melbourne has become home to the largest Greek population outside of Greece. Olympic Airways used to fly Athens - Bangkok - Melbourne - Sydney.
• Detroit - Dearborn, Michigan currently has the largest percentage of Arab-Americans of any American city (30,000 out of 98,000 - New York has 70,000 out of 8 million). Royal Jordanian Airlines flies twice weekly nonstop between Detroit and Amman to cater to this population.

I have many more examples but here are a few to start with - I guess it's something new to learn over a cup of your morning coffee.