Asian Americans, Defined

 

A heterogeneous group

The Asian and Pacific Islander population is heterogeneous, comprising  Asian and Pacific Islander subcultures who differ country of ancestry, language, culture, and length of residence in the United States.

 

Some of the Asian groups, such as the Chinese and Japanese, have been in the United States for several generations.  Asians  such as the Hmong, Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians, are comparatively recent immigrants. Relatively few of the Pacific Islanders are foreign born.

According to the March 1999, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, “Asian” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

 “Pacific Islander” refers to those having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

Population Trends

The Asian population is growing more rapidly than the total population, due in part to strong immigration, a trend that is expected to continue.

 

In 2007, the Asian population will reach 14.2 million, or nearly double its 1990 base of 7.3 million. This 95% gain in population exceeds that projected for any other racial group, yet in comparison, it falls well below the 125%gain expected for the Hispanic population.

 

Geographic Distribution

Nationally, 96% of the Asian and Pacific Islander population lived in metropolitan areas.  In March 1999, the Asian and Pacific Islander population in the United States numbered 10.9 million, constituting 4% of the total population.

 

Geographically, the majority of Asian Americans  and Pacific Islanders, 53%, live in the Western region of the United States, 20% in the South, 18% in the Northeast, and 10% in the Midwest.

 

Entrepreneurial spirit

The increasing number of successful entrepreneurs helps to increase the group’s buying power. According to the 2001 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises, the number of Asian-owned businesses, increased more than four times faster than the number of all U.S. firms, and their receipts also rose much more rapidly than all others.