Total Asian population 12,097,281
Vietnamese 1,267,510
Korean 1,251,092
Japanese 832,039
Other Asian 250,666
Laotian 226,661
Pakistani 208,852
Cambodian 195,208
Hmong 163,733
Other Asian, not specified 140,571
Thai 130,548
Taiwanese 70,771
Indonesian 52,267
Bangladeshi 50,473
Sri Lankan 22,339
Malaysian 11,458Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 American Community Survey
While it may be an unreasonable burden on the U.S. Census Bureau to
take note of each and every world language spoken in the U.S., the great
disparity in the level of detail we employ to characterize the world’s
populations bears some consideration. Asian is not a comfortable term for
many of the people we assign it to. For example, when asked about the
place of India in Asia, one person of Southeast Asian heritage was
hesitant:
That’s a tough one because [when] I hear the term Asian American I
consider them [Asian Indians] as separate, not Asian. I know India is
located [in] Asia but then I always thought of it as separate ...
because to me it seems different.
(Park 2008)Most non-Asians show little curiosity or even basic knowledge about the
world outside the U.S. I would suggest that this is due, in large part, to the
fact that geography instruction has almost disappeared from school system
curricula. The National Geographic Society, concerned about this trend,