Sir,
if my memory serves me reasonably well, the diversity lottery is for countries which send less than 10,000 immigrants annually to the USA.
That’s why it is called that, it is supposed to increase the diversity of the immigrant flow to the US. Sad, but true :-(
P. S: (sorry about that)
The diversity lottery came into being in 1990, when it had become apparent that, under the provisions of the 1965 immigration law (which had scrapped the national origins system, and skewed the entire immigration system towards family unification massively), chain migration from Third world countries used up the lion’s share of the available immigration slots post- 1965.
Thus, immigrants from Europe were, although on average better skilled, often de facto shouldered aside.
This was especially true with Irish immigrants - that’s when Mr. Kennedy entered the stage, and (drum roll) voilà, the diversity lottery came into life :-(