Start off with a tour of Guam with Angela.

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Read the latest conservation news in the Pacific Basin newsletter.

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FREEDOM FOR ALL
A Nation We Call Our Own

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  Our culture is richer because of the contributions of Asian music, cuisine, dress and art, and even our language.

President Carter introduced a week of recognition in 1978 and, in 1990, George Bush declared the month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  May was chosen to commemorate the settling of the first Japanese immigrants in the US in 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 (Golden Spike Day).

BY THE NUMBERS
There are 12.5 million Asian Americans (4.4 percent of the population) and 935,600 (0.3 percent of the population) Hawaiian or Pacific Island Americans.  Forty-six percent of the nation’s foreign-born population from Asia lives in three metropolitan areas: Los Angeles , New York , and San Francisco .  Those numbers are great, but these speak for themselves:

• According to some population forecasts, Asian Americans will represent more than 10 percent of the US population by 2050.

• 47 percent age 25 and over hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, 16 percent 25 and over hold an advanced degree (e.g., Master’s, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.).

• 284,000 are military veterans.

• 78 percent of Asian-American children live in a home maintained by both of their parents.

Source:  www.infoplease.com

A WORD FROM THE WISE

Many words found in the English language today were adopted from Asia and the Pacific Islands ....