Bayonne is a community that retains many of the elements of a small town. One and two family homes, small apartment buildings, and small business predominate. There is a population of 62,000 people who take pride in their hometown and its history. Bayonne residents and their ancestors moved to the city from many parts of the world. During colonial times and the first century of the American Republic, the Dutch, British, and Africans were the first groups to arrive after the Indians. Subsequent waves if immigrants came from all over Europe, especially between the 1880's and the 1920's. In recent decades, Latin American, the Middle East, and Asian and Pacific countries have also been sources of immigration to Bayonne. Each group has left its mark on the cultural, religious, and political life of the community.