Desi Americans To Cross 4.5 Million in 2010 By Francis C. Assisi

Email this page Print this page

For example, take the case of Minnesota where Asian Indians do not form a significant part of the population. During the 1990s the number of Asian Indians in Minnesota roughly doubled from about eight-thousand to nearly 17-thousand. Mid-term census figures reveal that by 2005 it had nearly doubled again -- making the group the state's second-largest Asian population.

If one is to extrapolate from these latest U.S. Census figures, the Asian Indian population in America is expected to reveal its steepest rise ever during the 2010 census.

Recall that according to previous census counts Asian Indians increased 110 percent from 428,224 (1980) to 815,447 (1990), and 106% from 815,447 (1990) to 1,678,765 (2000). The Census also ranked Asian Indians as the third largest Asian American group after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. Indian Americans also had the largest percentage increase of the six major Asian groups in the U.S.

Thus, in terms of sheer numbers, Chinese were still the largest Asian group in 2000 with 2,432,585 people, Filipinos were second with 1,850,314; Asian Indians third at 1,678,765; Vietnamese fourth, 1,122,528; Koreans fifth, 1,076,872; and Japanese sixth, 796,700.

However, according to the American Community Survey (ACS) in 2004, Asian Indian population growth has continued to outpace that for all other major Asian groups since 2000, with a 34% growth rate during the first four years of this decade alone.

Based on our projections, Asian Indians already number more than 2.5 million, and have now -- for the first time -- slightly eclipsed the Filipino American population to become the second largest Asian group in the United States. It is expected that they will equal or outnumber Chinese Americans in 2025.

What this also means is that as 2010 approaches, with Asian Indians representing 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, and considering there are 7,424 state legislators nationwide, the Indian American community should have at least 100 State legislators of Indian origin as opposed to the four who currently hold office.

indiaspora@gmail.com