Asian population surges in U.S.

The Asian population of the United States grew faster than any other racial or ethnic group in the last decade, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.

The number of Americans identifying themselves as Asian alone or in combination with another race surged 45.6 percent from 11.9 million in 2000 to 17.3 million in 2010, driven mainly by international migration, census officials said Wednesday. The overall U.S. population grew 9.7 percent during that period, to 308.7 million.

Growth for the Latino population was 43 percent during the decade, with much slower growth for blacks, 15 percent, and whites, 7 percent.

For Asian-Americans, California has by far the largest population, with 5.6 million, or almost a third of all those included in the 2010 census nationwide. The state’s Asian population increased 34 percent during the decade but was outpaced by that of many other states, including neighboring Nevada, where it was up 116 percent.

California is home to the nation’s largest proportion of all major Asian groups, the report showed, including Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Asian Indian.