The "Asian/Pacific American" designation encompasses over 50 ethnic or language groups including native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. There are now more Asian and Pacific Islander groups than in the past - with 28 Asian and 19 Pacific Island subgroups representing a vast array of languages and cultures. These groups include Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Asian Indian Americans, Laotian Americans, Cambodian Americans, Hmong Americans, Thai Americans, Pakistani, Samoan, Guamanian and many other language groups.
"Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander" refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicated their race or races as "Native Hawaiian," "Guamanian or Chamorro," "Samoan," or "Other Pacific Islander," or wrote in entries such as Tahitian, Mariana Islander, or Chuukese. "Some other race" was included in Census 2000 for respondents who were unable to identify with the five Office of Management and Budget race categories. Many Asians and Pacific Islanders have ancestry in a number of different cultures.