Number of Korean Americans tops 1.56 mln: Census Bureau

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Yonhap) -- The number of Korean Americans residing in the
United States reached 1.56 million as of the end of 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau
said Wednesday.

The figure, representing those who came from at least one Korean parent, is the
fifth biggest group among 15.2 million Asian Americans, followed by 3.54 million
Americans of Chinese descent, 3.05 million Filipinos, 2.77 million Indians and
1.65 Vietnamese. Japanese ranked sixth with 1.22 million.
The statistics, released ahead of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in May,
projected that Asian Americans will constitute 40.6 million or nine percent of
the total U.S. population by 2050, up from the current five percent. The total
U.S. population is currently 306 million.
Korean is spoken at home by more than 1 million people in the U.S.
Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the U.S. with
2.5 million people, after Spanish.
Among other languages spoken at home by more than 1 million people are Tagalog
(Philippines) and Vietnamese.
California is the home of the largest Asian population, with 5 million, followed
by New York (1.4 million) and Texas (915,000).
Hawaii, meanwhile, has the highest proportion of Asian population, with 55
percent, with California coming next with 14 percent. New Jersey and Washington
followed with 8 percent each.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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