Skip to Main Content
  • An icon for searching through for books.

    SEARCH FOR
    BOOKS

  • An icon for searching through a database.

    SEARCH FOR
    ARTICLES

  • An icon for the hours of operation.

    HOURS OF
    OPERATION

  • An icon for chatting with a librarian.

    CHAT WITH A
    LIBRARIAN

  • Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi Resource Guide: APID Information

    The United States is an immigrant country, so it is not a surprise to find people of many races, from various countries, and of diverse ethnicities on our campus and in our communities. This guide offers resources to help us learn more about identities contained within the Asian Pacific Islander Desi community. This guide has interesting places to visit for each ethnic group, topics of concern, and descriptions of customs and traditions that will help in learning the culture of those with APID heritage.

    Stop AAPI Hate. Image of young people with their arms around each other in solidarity.

    Helpful Terms

    There are a number of terms that are used to denote Asian and Pacific Islander populations, including Asian Pacific American (APA), Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI). We use the term APIDA, which stands for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American, as a pan-ethnic classification that intentionally includes South Asians (Desi) as part of our community. There is a great diversity of identities and ethnicities encompassed under the APIDA umbrella, including East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander.

    Color-coded map of Asia

    Cacahuate, amendments by Peter Fitzgerald, Globe-trotter, Joelf, and Texugo, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

    • East Asians refer to people from China (including Macau and Hong Kong), Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, and Mongolia.
    • South Asians refer to people from the following countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Ethnic groups include Sindhi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, and many others.
    • Southeast Asians refer to people from the following countries and ethnic groups: Burma, Brunei, Cambodia (Khmer, Cham, KhmerLoeu), Indonesia, Laos (Hmong, Lao, Lao Loum, Iu Mien, Khmu, Tai Dam, Tai Leu, and many other ethnic groups), Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Philippines, and Vietnam (Vietnamese, Khmer Kampuchea Krom, Montagnards).
    • Pacific Islanders refer to those whose origins are the original peoples of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Polynesia includes Hawaii (Native Hawaiian), Samoa and American Samoa (Samoan), Tokelau (Tokelauan), Tahiti (Tahitian), and Tonga (Tongan). Micronesia includes Guam (Guamanian or Chamorro), Mariana Islands (Mariana Islander), Saipan (Saipanese), Palau (Palauan), Yap (Yapanese), Chuuk (Chuukese), Pohnpei (Pohnpeian), Kosrae (Kosraean), Marshall Islands (Marshallese), and Kiribati (I-Kiribat). Melanesia includes Fiji (Fijian), Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinean), Solomon Islands (Solomon Islander), and Vanuatu (Ni-Vanuatu).

    SOURCES: SEARAC, Southeast Asian American Statistical Profile,2004; https://www.empoweredpi.org/; https://www.api-gbv.org/resources/census-data-api-identities

    Long Beach APID in Pictures

    An abstract collage mural,
    A photo of first Long Beach female and Japanese-american mayor, Eunice Sato in 1982
    Two women and one man pose for the camera for Filipino-American Friendship Day. The two women are wearing small carnation corsages. The two people on the left are wearing modern embroidered Filipino attire.
    A group of eight young Asian children pose for a photograph during a birthday party. A tall hedge is just behind them. Beyond the hedge is a residence and a few trees.
    A smiling young Cambodian woman is shown here wearing a colorful, elaborately decorated and jeweled traditional garment and headdress.
    A small class of Japanese American men wearing military uniforms sit at long wooden tables as they listen to the teacher standing in the front of the room.
    A group of men wearing white Nehru style jackets perform on a variety of traditional instruments. At far right, a woman wearing a white dress holds a microphone.
    Six young women dressed in Japanese kimonos pose outdoors in their neighborhood for a photograph.
    A Cambodian woman wearing traditional attire is dancing. In the background, young people are playing traditional musical instruments.
    A fmaily of 11 Asian people of varying ages with different expressions pose in front of a boat upon relocating to Long Beach.
    A smiling Cambodian young person performs a dance outdoors in a colorful, elaborately decorated and jeweled traditional garment and hat.
    A Japanese family is visiting Pierpoint Landing. Portions of the pier, buildings, equipment, and cranes are visible in the background.

    Local APID Cultural Hubs

    Local APID Cultural Hubs

    This Libguide is a living document and has received contributions from the following individuals:

    Dean Paul Creason, Dr. Ramchandran Sethuraman, Stacey Toda, Jeff Sabol, David Goto, Nenita Buenaventura, Diana Ogimachi, Ariane Le, Katherine Conchada, Allison Nguyen, Amy La, Teila Robertson, Vivan Linderman, and Eleanor L. Sonido (2021). Joshua Sanchez (2022)