Asian Americans

Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). According to annual estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2024, the Asian population was estimated at 22,080,844, representing approximately 6.49% of the total U.S. population, making them the fastest growing and fourth largest racial and ethnic group in the United States after African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and non-Hispanic White Americans.

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 U.S. Census Bureau denotes a racial category that includes people with origins or ancestry from Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It excludes people with ethnic origins from West Asia, who were historically classified as "white" and proposed to be categorized as Middle Eastern Americans starting from the 2030 census. Central Asian ancestries (including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek) were previously not included in any racial category but have been designated as "Asian" as of 2024. It is also explicitly stated on the Census that racial categories reflect social definitions of race based on the American general public. They are not meant to define race biologically, anthropologically or genetically.