ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS:
WHO ARE WE?

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) come from nearly 50 countries and ethnic groups, each with distinct cultures, traditions and histories. AAPIs speak over one hundred Asian and Pacific Islander languages and dialects. Asian Americans are persons having origins from East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Today, there are approximately 12 million AAPIs living in the United States, or about 5% of the total population. By 2020, the AAPI population is projected to reach 20 million, and by 2050, approximately one out of every 10 Americans will be of Asian or Pacific Islander descent. Pacific Islanders are people having origins in Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands. Some of the groups are listed below:

East Asia: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Okinawan, Taiwanese

Southeast Asia: Bornean, Bruneian, Burmese, Cambodian, Celebesian, Filipino, Hmong, Javanese, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Montagnard, Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese

South Asia: Afghan, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Maldivian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Tibetan

Polynesia: Cook Islander, Maori, Native Hawaiian, Niuean, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, Tokelauan, Tuvaluan

Micronesia: Carolinian, Chamorro, Chuukese, Guamanian, I-Kiribati, Kosraen, Mariana Islander, Marshallese, Nauruan, Palauan, Pohnpeian, Saipanese, Trukese, Yapese

Melanesia: New Caledonian, Ni-Vanuatu, Papua New Guinean, Solomon Islander