Asian Latin Americans or Latinasians

  Asian Latin Americans or Latinasians are Latin Americans of full or partial Asian descent. The term generally refers to those of East Asian background, but can encompass other Asian ethnic groups. Asian Latin Americans have a centuries-long history in the region, starting with Filipinos in the 16th century. The peak of Asian immigration occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries.

     There are currently more than four million Asian Latin Americans, nearly 1% of Latin America's population. Chinese, Japanese and the Lebanese are the largest Asian ancestries; other major ethnic groups include Indians, Koreans and Filipinos. Brazil is home to the largest population of East Asian descent, estimated at about 2.08 million.  With as much as 5% of its population having some degree of Chinese ancestry, Peru has the highest ratio of any country for East Asian descent. Though the most recent official census, which relied on self-identification, gave a much lower percentage.


There has been notable emigration from these communities in recent decades, so that there are now hundreds of thousands of people of Asian Latin American origin in both Japan and the United States.