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Asian Americans facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry. The term refers to a group that includes diverse populations. They have ancestral origins in South Asia, East Asia. This includes people who indicate as "Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Other Asian". Asian Americans with no other ancestry comprise 5.4% of the U.S. population. Asian Americans are by capita the richest and highest earning ethnic group in America, due to their high educational attainment and strong family values.

Definition

The U.S. Census Bureau defines Asian as "A person 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."

Population

During the 2010 United States Census, the largest ethnic groups were Chinese American, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, and Japanese Americans. The total population is 17,941,286.

Asian American alone

Ancestry Population
2000
Population
2010
Percent change
Bangladeshi 46,905 147,300 202.9%
Bhutanese 192 19439 9,699.0%
Burmese 14,620 95,536 553.5%
Cambodian 183,769 255,497 39.0%
Chinese 2,564,190 3,535,382 37.9%
Filipino 1,908,125 2,649,973 38.9%
Hispanic 119,829
Hmong 174,712 252,323 44.4%
Indian 1,718,778 2,918,807 69.8%
Indonesian 44,186 63,383 69.7%
Japanese 852,237 841,824 −1.2%
Korean 1,099,422 1,463,474 33.1%
Laotian 179,103 209,646 17.1%
Malaysian 15,029 21,868 45.5%
Maldivian 29 102 251.7%
Mongolian 3,699 15,138 309.2%
Nepalese 8,209 57,209 596.9%
Okinawan 6,138 5,681 −7.4%
Pakistani 164,628 382,994 132.6%
Singaporean 2,017 4,569 126.5%
Sri Lankan 21,364 41,456 94.0%
Taiwanese 118,827 199,387 67.6%
Thai 120,918 182,872 51.2%
Vietnamese 1,169,672 1,632,717 39.6%
Other Asian,
not specified
162,913 238,332 46.3%
Total 10,242,998 14,674,252 43.3%

With multiracial identifiers

Ancestry Population
2000
Population
2010
Percent change
Bangladeshi 57,412 147,300 156.6%
Bhutanese 212 19,439 9,069.3%
Burmese 16,720 100,200 499.3%
Cambodian 206,052 276,667 34.3%
Chinese 2,865,232 4,010,114 40.0%
Filipino 2,364,815 3,416,840 44.5%
Hispanic 598,146
Hmong 186,310 260,073 39.6%
Indian 1,899,599 3,183,063 67.6%
Indonesian 63,073 95,270 51.0%
Japanese 1,148,932 1,304,286 13.5%
Korean 1,228,427 1,706,822 38.9%
Laotian 198,203 232,130 17.1%
Malaysian 18,566 26,179 41.0%
Maldivian 51 127 149.0%
Mongolian 5,868 18,344 212.6%
Nepalese 9,399 59,490 532.9%
Okinawan 10,599 11,326 6.9%
Pakistani 204,309 409,163 100.3%
Singaporean 2,394 5,347 123.4%
Sri Lankan 24,587 45,381 84.6%
Taiwanese 132,038 215,582 65.2%
Thai 150,283 237,583 58.1%
Vietnamese 1,223,736 1,737,433 42.0%
Other Asian,
not specified
376,723 623,761 65.6%
Total 11,898,828 17,320,856 45.6%

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