Back أمريكيون آسيويون Arabic امريكيين آسيويين ARZ Amerika asiyalıları AZ آمریکا آسیالی‌لاری AZB এশীয় আমেরিকান Bengali/Bangla Asyanong Amerikanhon CEB Asijští Američané Czech Asiatisk-amerikanere Danish Asiatische Amerikaner German Ασιάτες Αμερικανοί Greek

Asian Americans

This article is about the U.S. population of Americans of Asian ancestry. For populations of Asians across the Americas, see Asians in the Americas. For the documentary series, see Asian Americans (film series).

Asian Americans
Distribution of Asian Americans by county
Total population
Increase 24,009,902 (alone and in combination)
7.2% of the population (2020)[1]
Chinese Americans: 5,143,982
Indian Americans: 4,506,308
Filipino Americans: 4,089,570
Vietnamese Americans: 2,162,610
Korean Americans: 1,894,131
Japanese Americans: 1,542,195
Pakistani Americans: 526,956
Thai Americans: 329,343
Hmong Americans: 320,164
Cambodian Americans: 300,360
Laotian Americans: 262,229
Taiwanese Americans: 213,774
Bangladeshi Americans: 213,372
Burmese Americans: 189,250
Nepalese Americans: 175,005
Indonesian Americans: 116,869
Sri Lankan Americans: 61,416
Regions with significant populations
California7,045,163
New York2,173,719
Texas1,849,226
New Jersey1,046,732
Washington939,846
Illinois875,488
Florida843,005
Hawaii824,143
Virginia757,282
Pennsylvania603,726
Massachusetts582,484
Languages
Religion
Christian (42%)
Unaffiliated (26%)
Buddhist (14%)
Hindu (10%)
Muslim (6%)
Sikh (1%)
Other (1%) including Jain, Zoroastrian, Tengrism, Shinto, and Chinese folk religion (Taoist and Confucian), Vietnamese folk religion[2]

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants).[3] Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peoples of the continent of Asia, the usage of the term "Asian" by the United States Census Bureau only includes people with origins or ancestry from the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent[4] and excludes people with ethnic origins in certain parts of Asia, including West Asia who are now categorized as Middle Eastern Americans.[5][6] Furthermore, Central Asians are not mentioned in any census racial category.[7] The "Asian" census category includes people who indicate their race(s) on the census as "Asian" or reported entries such as "Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Pakistani, Malaysian, and Other Asian".[8] In 2020, Americans who identified as Asian alone (19,886,049) or in combination with other races (4,114,949) made up 7.2% of the U.S. population.[9]

Chinese, Indian, and Filipino Americans make up the largest share of the Asian American population with 5 million, 4.3 million, and 4 million people respectively. These numbers equal 23%, 20%, and 18% of the total Asian American population, or 1.5% and 1.2% of the total U.S. population.[10]

Although migrants from Asia have been in parts of the contemporary United States since the 17th century, large-scale immigration did not begin until the mid-19th century. Nativist immigration laws during the 1880s–1920s excluded various Asian groups, eventually prohibiting almost all Asian immigration to the continental United States. After immigration laws were reformed during the 1940s–1960s, abolishing national origins quotas, Asian immigration increased rapidly. Analyses of the 2010 census have shown that Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States.[11]

  1. ^ "Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the United States census.gov". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center. July 19, 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2013. Christian 42%, Buddhist 14%, Hindu 10%, Muslim 6%, Sikh 1%, Jain *% Unaffiliated 26%, Don't know/Refused 1%
  3. ^ Karen R. Humes; Nicholas A. Jones; Roberto R. Ramirez (March 2011). "Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  4. ^ "State & Country QuickFacts: Race". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Middle East was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "About the Topic of Race".
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference centech was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Table 1 – Population By Race: 2010 and 2020" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Caitlin Brophy (December 23, 2020). "Asian American Population in the United States Continues to Grow Origin: 2020".
  11. ^ "U.S. Census Show Asians Are Fastest Growing Racial Group". NPR. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2016.