Asian Pacific American

Asian Pacific American

Asian-Pacific American (APA) or Asian-Pacific Islander (API) is a term sometimes used in the United States to include both Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans.

Asian or Pacific Islander was an option to indicate race and ethnicity in the United States Censuses in the 1990 and 2000 Census as well as in several Census Bureau studies in between, including Current Population Surveys reports and updates between 1994 and 2002. A 1997 Office of Management and Budget directive separated the "Asian or Pacific Islander" racial category into two categories: "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander."

The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs defined Asian-Pacific Islander as "A person with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Samoa; and on the Indian Subcontinent, includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan." A definition from Henry Ford Health System states that an Asian-Pacific American is "A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, Fiji, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas.

The term is used in reference to Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, the first ten days of May, established in 1978 by a joint resolution in United States Congress. The commemorative week was expanded to a month (Asian Pacific American Heritage Month) by Congress in 1992.

The term is also used by several state boards and commissions, including in Washington, Michigan, Maryland, and Connecticut. The term is also used in the names of several non-profit groups, such as the A|P|A History Collective, Center for Asian Pacific American Women, Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. Asian Pacific Americans are listed as a group on the United States Army website.