Demographics

Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA), often referred to as Middle Eastern and North African or MENA, communities make up a vibrant and multifaceted population who enrich California’s cultural, economic, and social fabric. Though there are many throughlines within California’s SWANA population, these communities have a breadth of racial, religious, immigrant, and ancestral backgrounds.

Historically, SWANA individuals have been rendered invisible in data collection and public discourse. In 2025, the RACE COUNTS team at Catalyst California released a groundbreaking report on SWANA Californians using innovative methods to work with the limited data available. In the next few years, there will be a significant increase in SWANA data available as a result of federal agencies adding SWANA to the standard race categories for data collection.