The nation's Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander population surpassed the 1 million mark last year for the first time, according to Census Bureau estimates released today.

There were 1,007,644 Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders in the U.S. in 2006, with more than a quarter of those people, or 275,000, living in Hawai'i.

California was home to the nation's second-largest group at 260,000, followed by Washington with 49,500 and Texas with 43,500.

"It's certainly a major milestone for the broader Native Hawaiian community, and it's a reflection that the numbers of Hawaiians are increasing not only here in Hawai'i but across the nation," said Stanton Enomoto of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "To the extent Hawaiians can come together and speak with a unified voice on certain issues, it gives us a greater carrying capacity."

California had the largest numerical increase (3,400) of Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander residents from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, followed by Texas (2,000) and Florida (1,500), according to census estimates. During that same period, Hawai'i lost 1,371 Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders, although OHA officials and other local researchers dispute the census numbers.

Utah had the second-highest percentage of Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders behind Hawai'i at 1 percent of the population, followed by Alaska at 0.9 percent.

'MAJORITY MINORITY'

The new census report confirms that Hawai'i leads the nation in diversity, with a population that was 75 percent "minority" in 2006. Hawai'i also was tops in percentage of Asians and Native Hawaiians/Pacific island-ers in the total population.

Three other states — New Mexico (57 percent), California (57 percent) and Texas (52 percent) — are "majority minority" like Hawai'i, but no other states had a minority population exceeding 42 percent, the Census Bureau reported.

"We as a state have long prided ourselves on diversity and the ability to communicate with each other. That's not to say we don't have our differences of opinion, but being an island state and very diverse, I want to believe that Hawai'i has lessons to offer the rest of the country," Enomoto said.

Full or part-Asian residents accounted for 55.6 percent of Hawai'i's population of 1.28 million, while those of Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders ancestry made up 21.4 percent. The population of whites, alone and in combination with other races, accounted for 42.6 percent of Hawai'i's population. The percentages for blacks and American Indians/Native Alaskans were 3.5 and 2, respectively.

The percentages add up to more than 100 in part because some people identify with more than one race.

The census data also showed a decline in the percentage of Asians and Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders in the state's population, and an increase in the white population's share, but some researchers have disputed the methods used by the federal agency in calculating race-based populations. The Census Bureau estimates population change from the 2000 census using annual data on births, deaths and international migration.

Research and statistics officer Eugene Tian of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said the higher number of births to Asian mothers in Hawai'i compared with other races, and substantial foreign migration from Asian countries tell him the state's Asian population is growing, not declining.

YOUNGER POPULATION

Those who track Native Hawaiian population trends say they, too, have seen indicators pointing to an increase.

One indicator of population growth, according to Enomoto, can be found in the just-released census data, which show a median age of 28.6 for the nation's Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander population in 2006, compared with 36.4 for the U.S. population as a whole. In addition, the data estimate that about 30 percent of the Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander population was younger than 18, compared with 25 percent of the total population.

"That suggests the population over time is on an upswing," Enomoto said. And a younger population now means greater growth later as today's children age and raise families of their own, he said.

ISLANDERS COMBINED

The estimates also show the need for healthcare and education services to keep pace with the needs of the Hawaiian community, Enomoto said.

"With the increase in charter schools and Native Hawaiian education, I think we're making progress to filling that need, but the data underscore the need to keep going," he said.

Making it even harder to get a clear picture of the Native Hawaiian population is the Census Bureau's practice of grouping Native Hawaiians with other Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians. According to the 2000 census, Hawaiians make up the largest segment in the Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander category, followed by Samoans and Chamorros (Guamanians).

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs estimates there are 239,000 Native Hawaiians in the state.

Enomoto serves on a committee that advises the Census Bureau on issues related to Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders, and he said the agency continues to fine-tune its counting methods.

In terms of actual number of Asian residents, Hawai'i was estimated to have nearly 714,500 in 2006, placing the state fourth nationally behind California (5 million), New York (1.4 million) and Texas (881,500). Next to Hawai'i, California had the highest proportion of Asians (14 percent) with New Jersey and Washington (8 percent each).

From 2005 to 2006, the U.S. population of Asians increased by 459,500, largely because of foreign migration that brought 272,600 new residents to the country.

BIRTHS, MIGRATION

During the same period, the Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander population grew by 16,600, thanks to a natural increase of 9,600 from deaths minus births, and foreign migration of 7,000.

With a 3.4 percent increase between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, Hispanics were the country's fastest-growing minority group, followed by Asians (3.2 percent) and Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders (1.7 percent).

While the 2006 census estimates saw Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders hit the 1 million mark, they made up only .34 percent of the nation's population of 299 million.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.