Census Data Show Growth in Oregon's Asian-American Population.

Byline: Angie Chuang

May 29--Oregon's welcoming of refugees after the Vietnam War has reshaped the state's Asian American population into one of the most heavily Southeast Asian in the country, 2000 census data show.

Other Asian ethnic groups have grown as well, with surges in the numbers of Asian Indian and Korean American residents. The result is a blend of many ethnicities, replacing the predominantly Chinese American and Japanese American demographic that defined Oregon's Asian Americans for most of the 20th century.

The details of Asian ethnicities are part of the latest release of data from the 2000 census. Oregon's Asian and Pacific Islander populations nearly doubled in the 1990s, to more than 120,000 residents. Phyllis Lee, director of the office of multicultural affairs at Oregon State University, said the numbers show the group is far more multifaceted than many people realize.

"This group that was lumped together includes so many different nationalities, histories and philosophies," said Lee, a second-generation Chinese American.

The state ranks fifth nationwide in percent of total population that is Vietnamese American. With nearly 1 percent of Oregon residents reporting that they were Vietnamese, only California, Washington, Hawaii and Texas had higher proportions.

The number of Vietnamese Americans in Oregon more than doubled in the past decade. In the Portland metro area, 22 percent of the Asian American population is Vietnamese, double the national average.