http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs ... 30351/1221

Immigrant Numbers Swell
The Associated Press
May 23. 2005 8:00AM

ASHUA - Immigrants accounted for one in 20 residents of Nashua in 1990. By 2000, that number had doubled to one in 10 and by next year it could be one in eight, according to US Census figures and the research group, Info USA.

Info USA's 2002 Sourcebook of Demographics says the fastest-growing groups in the city are natives of Asia and South and Central America.

By next year, Asians could be 5 percent of the city's population and Hispanic immigrants could be nearly 8 percent.

Like newcomers of previous generations, many recent immigrants who have made the city their home initially came here because of job opportunities. Since settling in, many have sought to improve their lives and those of others in their ethnic group by establishing religious services in their native languages, clubs to share cultural interests or even recreational sports teams.

Churches now offer services for Brazilian, Russian, Ukrainian, Indian and Chinese immigrants. There are five or six Indian cricket teams and numerous ethnic grocery stores and restaurants, as well as several nonprofit organizations that focus on teaching English and job and computer skills to new immigrants.

For Russian immigrants, stepping into Siberia - a Russian grocery store on Main Street - offers a taste of the old country, literally.
There are Russian cheeses and sausages, canned fish and black-currant soda as well as Ukrainian mineral water and Armenian soda.

There even are a few trinkets, such as nesting dolls and Russian-language movies.

"The first thing people need when they come here is knowing someone from your culture, which is not so easy because there were no gatherings," said Julia Biley, who moved to Nashua from the Ukraine about 18 months ago. "Step by step, we got to know people through the Russian stores - that's the first place where everyone goes.