The Asian connection is a crucial part of the national demographic snapshot provided by the Census Bureau's transmission of data to the individual states. That process, which started Thursday, will continue through the end of March. Because people responding to the 2000 Census had far more options on how they could identify themselves racially, the resulting picture of America will be more complete than ever and more diverse. With these critical numbers, governors and state legislative leaders will carve out new political district boundary lines. The disbursement of billions in federal dollars also hangs on what the figures tell America about Americans.
New Jersey typifies the growth of the Asian population.
Data released for that state a traditional destination for Asian immigrants showed as much as a 94 percent gain over the decade. Direct comparisons of figures for the 1990 and 2000 censuses were impossible, however, because people previously could choose from only five racial categories compared to 63 in the latest census. Indiana's Asian population may have nearly doubled, to 72,839 during the past decade. Louisiana had the lowest Asian population growth rate among the five states released Friday, but was still up as much as 60 percent, to 64,350. Because of the rise in Asian population and race-reporting changes, the extent of the social and political implications remain unclear.