FIESTA ASIA IN WASHINGTON DC

Faces and flavors of Asia in day-long street festival











Washington DC played host to Fiesta Asia, as it does every year to mark Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.



Police blocked off a portion of Pennsylvania Ave. between 3rd and 6th Streets NW near Capitol Hill for the Fiesta Asia Festival.





Close to 20 million US residents declared themselves Asian or part Asian in combination with one or more races in 2008, according to the Census Bureau.

Chinese Americans comprise the largest Asian American group, followed by Filipinos. Other major groups include Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese, respectively.




Over 3.6 million -- equivalent to 47% -- of Asian Americans voted in the 2008 elections.




Asian Americans -- mainly ethnic Chinese and Indian Americans -- owned 1.1 million business establishments/companies in 2002. Together they generated over $326 billion in revenues. Until the current recession, the number of Asian American businesses was increasing at about twice the US national average.





It is estimated the total number of Asian Americans in the will grow to about 41 million by 2050 -- representing close to 10 percent of total US population.