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:
Asia
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
Pacific Islands
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
