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Asian Latino, as used in the United States , is a rarely employed term that refers to Latinos of Asia n ancestry who identify as such. They are typically Spanish-speaking . Asian Latino might also be used for mixed-race people of Asian or Asian American and Latin America n or Latino descent. History and Composition Four million Latin Americans (0.8% of the total population) are descendants of Asian immigrants. The earliest are the descendants of Filipino s who made their way to Latin America (particularly Mexico ) as sailors and crews during the colonial period. For close to two and a half centuries (between 1570 to 1815 ) many Filipinos sailed on the Manila Galleon s, assisting in Spain 's monopoly in trade. Some of these sailors never returned to the Philippines , and many of their descendants can be found in small communities around Acapulco , Mexico. Most Asians, however, arrived as contract workers or Coolie s, others as economic refugees (especially from Japan ), political refugees (victims of World War II , the Korean War , Vietnam War ), and many fleeing Chinese Communist rule. Today, the overwhealming majority of Asian Latinos are of Chinese or Japanese descent, with Korean and Vietnamese the most significant groups thereafter. While Vietnamese living in Latin America are almost entirely confined to Cuba , other Asian groups are represented all throughout Latin America. Most of those of Japanese descent reside in Brazil and Peru , while those of Chinese ancestry are found primarily in Argentina , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Panama , Peru , Puerto Rico , and Mexico . Smaller communities of Chinese - numbering anywhere between a couple of hundreds to one or two thousand - also reside in Costa Rica (who make up about 1% of the total population), Ecuador and various other Latin American countries. There is also a significant Filipino and Taiwanese community in El Salvador . The small Korean communities reside in Chile , Brazil , Paraguay , and Argentina . Most Asians in Latin America are either White-collar Worker s, entrepreneurs of small businesses, or owners of Asian cuisine restaurants. In Peru, however, where the Asian (Japanese and Chinese) community is said to constitute some 3% of the population (the largest as a percentage of any Latin American country) they have become a disproportionately influential political and economic power. Many past and present Peruvian cabinet members have been of Asian origin, and even a past president, Alberto Fujimori , was of Japanese ancestry. Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan (numbering about 1.5 million) Of those that made their way from Latin America to the United States, most live scattered among the largest cities, and can be found living amidst either Asian or Latino communities in Los Angeles , New York City , San Francisco , and San Diego . See also
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