Short answers, pulled from the story.
Approximately 60% of the population claimed their community was a migrant to their current state or region in 1997. Within Gujarat itself, that number rose to around 70%. One hundred twenty-four out of 186 Hindu communities in the state assert a history of migration from elsewhere.
An epidemic struck Surat between 1790 and 1791, killing 100,000 people alone. A bubonic plague outbreak in 1812 is believed to have wiped out half the Gujarati population. These events further shaped demographic shifts within the region.
Pakistan hosts the largest overseas population with an estimated 3.5 million people living mostly in Karachi. The United States holds the second-largest diaspora with over 200,000 concentrated in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Canada counts approximately 210,000 Gujarati Canadians according to the 2021 census.
Poets Kavi Kant, Kalapi, and Abbas Abdulali Vasi shaped Gujarati literary traditions. Ardeshar Khabardar wrote Jya Jya Vase Ek Gujarati, a poem declaring that wherever a Gujarati resides, Gujarat remains forever present. Swaminarayan paramhanso Bramhanand and Premanand contributed prose works like Vachanamrut alongside bhajan poetry.
Most Gujarati Jains and many Hindus and Buddhists follow strict vegetarian diets while some communities consume fish regularly. Meals typically include rice, cooked vegetables, lentil dal or curry, and roti. Popular snacks include Khaman, Dhokla, Dhokli, Undhiyu, Jalebi, fafda, chevdoh, Muthia, Bhajia, Patra, locho, sev, vanela gathiya, Dabeli, and Sev mamra.