Asian (South Africa)

In South Africa, Asian usually refers to people of South Asian ancestry, more commonly called Indians. They are largely descended from people who migrated to South Africa in the late 19th and early 20th century from British ruled South Asia.

This article is about the term Asian as used in South Africa, for the group referred to as Indian/Asian or Asians, see Indian South Africans

The "Indian"/"Asian" identity was codified by law under Apartheid as a race group. This term excluded other peoples from Continental Asia, including East Asians such as the Chinese, who were either classified as Coloureds or Honorary whites, West Asians (particularly the Lebanese and Syrians), who were originally classified as "Asian" until the early 1900s, and later as “white”, or groups like the Cape Malays who have some degree of Southeast Asian ancestry, and were classified as a subgroup of Coloured.

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