Asians are the fastest growing racial group according to a recent report released by the U.S. Census Bureau analyzing 2000 and 2010 census figures

The U.S. population identifying as Asian alone or in combination with another racial group grew by 45.6% from 2000 to 2010, according to the report by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Asian population increased four times faster than the total U.S. population, which grew by 9.7% during the past decade. That trend was also reflected on a state-by-state basis with the Asian population growing by at least 30% in 49 states. Hawaii was the only state that did not experience a similar rate of growth, with an 11% increase. Yet Asians already make up 57% of the total population in Hawaii. Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, North Dakota and Georgia represented the top five states with the most growth. In cities with a population of 100,000 or more, Honolulu had the greatest proportion of people who identified as Asian (68%) followed by nine California cities. New York, meanwhile, represents the largest concentration of Asians with 1.1 million people. Nationwide, census respondents who identify as Chinese represent the largest Asian group followed by Filipinos and Asian Indians. Among Asian groups, people identifying as Bangladeshi and Pakistani had some of the strongest growth, doubling in size over the past decade, says Marita Etcubañez of the Asian American Justice Center who contributed to a report analyzing census figures. "The Asian American population is one that is 60% foreign-born, which demonstrates that immigration to the U.S. continues to contribute to our growth," said Etcubañez, "Nearly one in three of the 9.2 million Asian American foreign-born entered the United States between 2000 and 2009. Some groups are more recent arrivals to the United States. Roughly seven in 10 Malaysian, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Taiwanese Americans were born abroad, and more than three out of four Sri Lankan Americans were born abroad." The Asian population is up 60% in the DC-metro region, with many Asian groups choosing to live in D.C. suburbs. In Virginia, Indians make up the largest group of Asians there while Filipinos are the largest Asian group in two Maryland suburbs. The Census Bureau reports that counties experiencing the fastest growth were in the Midwest and the South with the Asian population growing in some counties by 200%.