We, the American Asians, 6.9 million, a 99 percent increase since the 1980 census. This report focuses on Asian Americans — Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Asian Indians, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Hmong, Thai. Pacific Islanders are profiled in a companion report, "We, the American Pacific Islanders," in this series.

For the last two decades, the number of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States doubled, from 1.5 million in 1970 to 3.7 million in 1980 to 7.3 million in 1990. The percentage of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the total population also nearly doubled during the 1980’s, from 1.5 percent to 2.9 percent.

Our dramatic increases are the result of increased immigration from China, India, Korea, the Philippines, and other Asian and Pacific Island areas following the adoption of the Immigration Act of 1965.

In addition to immigration and natural increase, part of the growth of our numbers during the 1970’s reflect changes in the census race definition to include more groups, as well as improvements in review procedures in the 1990 census.