What is “A.P.I.”?

“Asian Pacific Islander”, or “API”, is a term that encompasses all people who identify with the “Asian” and/or “Pacific Islander” demographics, where “Asian” refers to all cultures and nationalities from regions spanning the entirety of the Asian continent, and “Pacific Islander” refers to all cultures and nationalities from regions spanning the entirety of Oceania.

In practice, the term “Asian-Pacific Islander” is sometimes used in the United States to include both Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans, typically used by the Census Bureau. It was a result of the establishment by the U.S. Congress of an Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week in 1978 for the first ten days of May, later expanded to a monthlong observance in 1992. The designation was to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the U.S. on 7 May 1843 and the contribution of Chinese workers to the construction of the transcontinental railroad, completed on 10 May 1869.

Because of a 1997 directive by the Office of Management and Budget, the “Asian or Pacific Islander” racial category was further separated into two categories: “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander”. ◆

Some information gathered from the United States Census Bureau, CB11-FF.06 (29 April 2011).