Definitions

	Racial & Ethnic Populations Section Menu
		American Indian & Alaska Native
		Asian American
		Black or African American
		Hispanic or Latino
		Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander
		Multiracial
		White
		CDC Funding Opportunities

Definitions of Racial & Ethnic Populations

	American Indian & Alaska Native (AI/AN) Populations
	People having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.

	Asian American Populations
	People having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.

	Black or African American Populations
	People having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

	Hispanic or Latino Populations
	A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

	Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) Populations
	People having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

	Multiracial Populations
	People having origins in two or more of the federally designated racial categories.
	Note: Though OMB and Census 2000 use "two or more races," we use the term "multiracial" because it is the term most widely used and accepted by advocacy groups and state laws.

	White Populations
	People having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

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For more information link to the US Census 2000 Briefs & Special Reports.

Sources:

Census Bureau, Census 2000 Brief: Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2001.

Census Bureau Glossary of Terms: Race, 2000.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Provisional Guidance on the Implementation of the 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, 2000.

Office of Management and Budget Recommendations from the Interagency Committee for the Review of the Racial and Ethnic Standards to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning Changes to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, 1997.

Note:

Census 2000 adheres to the federal standards for collecting and presenting data on race and Hispanic origin as established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in October 1997 and subsequent guidelines. One of the most important changes for Census 2000 was the revision of the questions on race and Hispanic origin to better reflect the country’s growing diversity. The federal government considers race and Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct concepts. In addition, Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are counted as two separate and distinct racial groups. Because of these changes, the Census 2000 data on race are not directly comparable with data from the 1990 census or earlier censuses. Caution must be used when interpreting changes in the racial composition of the U.S. population over time.