Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is celebrated during the month of May, honoring the contributions and influence of these groups of Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.
The Asian/Pacific region encompasses:
- All of the Asian continent.
- The Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands).
- Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia).
- Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).
The month of May was chosen to observe AAPI Month because of the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and also to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.
Highsmith, C. M., photographer. (2013) Chinatown, San Francisco, California. United States San Francisco California, 2013. May. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2013634934/.