There are approximately 3,500 Sudanese refugees living in the San Diego area, most of them concentrated in the City heights and North Park areas of the City. There are smaller concentrations in Linda Vista, El Cajon and Chula Vista.

The Sudanese refugees in San Diego are members of several tribes with the largest numbers from the Dinka, Nuer, Bari and Equatorial tribal areas of the Sudan. Thousands of refugees from other countries in East Africa also live in San Diego. Somali Bantus, a formerly enslaved group of Bantus from Somalia, are the most recent to arrive.