A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as White or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.

A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as Black, African Am., or Negro, or provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. It includes people who classified themselves as described below.

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes "Asian Indian," "Chinese," "Filipino," "Korean," "Japanese," "Vietnamese," and "Other Asian."

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as "Native Hawaiian," "Guamanian or Chamorro," "Samoan," and "Other Pacific Islander."

Includes all other responses not included in the "White," "Black or African American," "American Indian or Alaska Native," "Asian," and "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander" race categories described above. Respondents providing write-in entries such as multiracial, mixed, interracial, or a Hispanic/Latino group (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) in the "Some other race" write-in space are included in this category.

People may have chosen to provide two or more races either by checking two or more race response check boxes, by providing multiple write-in responses, or by some combination of check boxes and write-in responses. The race response categories shown on the questionnaire are collapsed into the five minimum race groups identified by the OMB, and the Census Bureau "Some other race" category. For data product purposes, "Two or more races" refers to combinations of two or more of the following race categories:

1. White
2. Black or African American
3. American Indian and Alaska Native
4. Asian
5. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
6. Some other race

There are 57 possible combinations (see Figure B-1) involving the race categories shown above. Thus, according to this approach, a response of "White" and "Asian" was tallied as two or more races, while a response of "Japanese" and "Chinese" was not because "Japanese" and "Chinese" are both Asian responses. Tabulations of responses involving reporting of two or more races within the American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories are available in other data products.

Given the many possible ways of displaying data on two or more races, data products will provide varying levels of detail. The most common presentation shows a single line indicating "Two or more races." Some data products provide totals of all 57 possible combinations of two or more races, as well as subtotals of people reporting a specific number of races, such as people reporting two races, people reporting three races, and so on.

In other presentations on race, data are shown for the total number of people who reported one of the six categories alone or in combination with one or more other race categories. For example, the category "Asian alone or in combination with one or more other races" includes people who reported Asian alone and people who reported Asian in combination with White, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and Some other race. This number, therefore, represents the maximum number of people who reported as Asian in the question on race. When this data presentation is used, the individual race categories will add to more than the total population because people may be included in more than one category.

During 100-percent processing of Census 2000 questionnaires, subject-matter specialists reviewed and coded written entries from four response categories on the race item American Indian or Alaska Native, Other Asian, Other Pacific Islander, and Some other race. The Other Asian and Other Pacific Islander response categories shared the same write-in area on the questionnaire.

The data on race in Census 2000 are not directly comparable to those collected in previous censuses. The October 1997 revised standards issued by the OMB led to changes in the question on race for Census 2000. The Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal data were the first to reflect these changes. First, respondents were allowed to select more than one category for race. Second, the sequence of the questions on race and Hispanic origin changed. In 1990, the question on race (Item 4) preceded the question on Hispanic origin (Item 7) with two intervening questions. For Census 2000, the question on race immediately follows the question on Hispanic origin. Third, there were terminology changes to the response categories, such as spelling out "American" instead of "Amer." for the American Indian or Alaska Native category; and adding "Native" to the Hawaiian response category. The 1990 category "Other race" was renamed "Some other race."

Other differences that may affect comparability involve the individual categories on the Census 2000 questionnaire. The 1990 category, "Asian and Pacific Islander" was separated into two categories, "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander." Accordingly, on the Census 2000 questionnaire, there were seven Asian categories and four Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories. The two residual categories, "Other Asian" and "Other Pacific Islander," replaced the 1990 single category "Other API." The 1990 categories "American Indian," "Eskimo," and "Aleut" were combined into "American Indian and Alaska Native." American Indians and Alaska Natives can report one or more tribes.

As in 1990, people who reported a Hispanic or Latino ethnicity in the question on race and did not mark a specific race category were classified in the "Some other race" category ("Other race" in 1990). They commonly provided a write-in entry such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Latino. In the 1970 census, most of these responses were included in the "White" category. In addition, some ethnic entries that in 1990 may have been coded as White or Black are now shown in the "Some other race group."

For Puerto Rico, separate questions on race and Hispanic origin were included on their Census 2000 questionnaire, identical to the questions used in the United States. The 1950 census was the last census to include these questions on the Puerto Rico questionnaire.

Census 2000 included an automated review, computer edit, and coding operation on a 100- percent basis for the write-in responses to the race question, similar to that used in the 1990 census. Write-in responses such as Laotian or Thai, and Guamanian or Tongan were reviewed, coded, and tabulated as "Other Asian" and "Other Pacific Islander," respectively, in the census. All tribal entries were coded as either American Indian or as Alaska Native.
For more information on race, please telephone 301-457-2402.

Figure B-1. Two or More Races (57 Possible Specified Combinations)

1. White; Black or African American


2. White; American Indian and Alaska Native


3. White; Asian


4. White; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


5. White; Some other race


6. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native


7. Black; Asian


8. Black; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


9. Black; Some other race


10. American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian


11. American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander


12. American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race


13. Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


14. Asian; Some other race


15. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


16. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native


17. White; Black; Asian


18. White; Black; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


19. White; Black; Some other race


20. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian


21. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


22. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race


23. White; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


24. White; Asian; Some other race


25. White; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


26. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian


27. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


28. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race


29. Black; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


30. Black; Asian; Some other race


31. Black; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


32. American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


33. American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race


34. American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


35. Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


36. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian


37. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


38. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race


39. White; Black; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


40. White; Black; Asian; Some other race


41. White; Black; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


42. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific mIslander


43. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race


44. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


45. White; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


46. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


47. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race


48. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


49. Black; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


50. American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


51. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander


52. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race


53. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


54. White; Black; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


55. White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific mIslander; Some other race


56. Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race


57. White; Black; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race