Defining Diaspora: Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi Identities
Defining Diaspora: Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi Identities
Student attending the Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi Welcome.
Defining Diaspora: APIDA Identities
Defining Diaspora is a series of workshops and programs that allows participants to increase understanding of and connection to the diaspora that
makes up Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi communities. APIDA refers to the broad
pan-ethnic classification that includes East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian,
and Pacific Islander populations. Visit our upcoming events for opportunities to participate.
Who is APIDA?
East Asiansrefer to people from China (including Macau and Hong Kong), Korea, Japan, Okinawa,
Taiwan, and Mongolia.
South Asiansrefer to people from the following countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Ethnic groups include Sindhi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil,
and many others.
Southeast Asiansrefer to people from the following countries and ethnic groups: Burma, Brunei, Cambodia
(Khmer, Cham, KhmerLoeu), Indonesia, Laos (Hmong,Lao, Lao Loum, Iu Mien, Khmu, Tai
Dam, Tai Leu, and many other ethnic groups), Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste,
Philippines, and Vietnam (Vietnamese, Khmer Kampuchea Krom, Montagnards).
Pacific Islandersrefer to those whose origins are the original peoples of Polynesia, Micronesia, and
Melanesia. Polynesia includes Hawaii (Native Hawaiian), Samoa (Samoan), American Samoa
(Samoan), Tokelau (Tokelauan), Tahiti (Tahitian), and Tonga (Tongan). Micronesia includes
Guam (Guamanian or Chamorro), Mariana Islands (Mariana Islander), Saipan (Saipanese),
Palau (Palauan), Yap (Yapanese), Chuuk (Chuukese), Pohnpei (Pohnpeian), Kosrae (Kosraean),
Marshall Islands (Marshallese), and Kiribati (I-Kiribat). Melanesia includes Fiji
(Fijian), Papau New Guinea (Papua New Guinean), Solomon Islands (Solomon Islander),
and Vanuatu (Ni-Vanuatu).
SOURCES: SEARAC, Southeast Asian American Statistical Profile, 2004; https://www.empoweredpi.org/;
https://www.api-gbv.org/resources/census-data-api-identities/