| news |
Posted
on 28-Dec-00 12:03 PM
Census figures show dramatic growth in Asian, Hispanic populations
August 30, 2000
Web posted at: 9:42 a.m. EDT (1342 GMT)
CNN News
WASHINGTON -- New figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday show that Asians and Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority populations in the United States.
Additional Census data show that the growth of these two groups is being shown at the voting booth. The number of Asians and Hispanics who voted in congressional elections increased significantly between 1994 and 1998 while the overall number of voters nationwide dropped, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
Between July 1, 1990 and July 1, 1999, the nation's Asian and Pacific Islander population grew 43.0 percent to 10.8 million, and the Hispanic population grew 38.8 percent to 31.3 million, the Census estimates show. These are the last such estimates to be released before detailed Census 2000 results come out next year.
Growth 'fueled by immigration'
This growth among Asians and Hispanics is "largely being fueled by immigration," said Census analyst Larry Sink. During the same period, "The white, black and American Indian populations for the most part just don't show that dramatic of a change," Sink said.
Nationally, the country's white population increased 7.3 percent between 1990 and 1999 to 224.6 million. Blacks remained the country's largest minority group, experiencing a 13.8 percent rise during the same period to 34.8 million, while the American Indian and Alaska Native population increased 15.5 percent to 2.3 million.
California, Texas and New York -- the three most populous states -- continue to have the highest numbers of minorities, but Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina experienced the biggest percentage point increases, Sink said.
"It's largely a condition of jobs and the network of people they know there," said John Haaga of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based research group. "That's the traditional American experience."
The influx of Asians and Hispanics made Nevada, which experienced a population growth of 50 percent during the 1990s, the country's fastest-growing state. Its Asian population rose 123.7 percent to 88,208, the largest such increase in the nation, while its Hispanic population rose 144.6 percent to 304,364.
Unprecedented new hotel and casino construction in Clark County opened up more jobs during the decade, said Steven Kwon, a Las Vegas architect and founder of the area's Asian Chamber of Commerce. In that county alone, the Hispanic population rose 164.3 percent to 219,075, while its Asian population rose 139.3 percent to 64,636.
"In-migration into southern Nevada is dominated by people from Southern California," said Dr. Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "And Southern California has historically had a high portion of the Asian and Hispanic population."
Arkansas, meanwhile, had the biggest percentage growth among Hispanics, increasing 170.3 percent to 53,729 in the 90s.
On the county level, Sink at the Census said some of the most significant increases in Hispanic growth occurred in the metropolitan Atlanta area, including Gwinnett County, Georgia, (up 215.6 percent in the 90s to 26,731) and Cobb County, Georgia (up 158.9 percent to 24,350).
Besides Clark County, Nevada, Sink said other significant county-level increases in Asian population occurred in Fort Bend, Texas (up 127.6 percent to 33,048), as well as the two Georgia counties again: Gwinnett (up 180.7 percent to 28,793) and Cobb (up 135.7 percent to 18,758).
New jobs in construction, food processing and textile industries were the main attraction in Georgia, said Robert Giacomini, director of research for the state's data center.
'Dramatic shift' in immigration patterns
Historically, most immigrants to the United States came from Europe. In 1890, for example, 86 percent were from Europe. And in 1960, Europe still accounted for 75 percent with only 9 percent from Latin America and 5 percent from Asia.
But by 1999, there had been a dramatic shift in the countries of origin of immigrants living in the United States, according to the Population Reference Bureau's Web site. In 1999 more than half -- 51 percent -- came from Latin America and 27 percent from Asia, while only 16 percent came from Europe.
This shift has brought more racial and ethnic diversity among immigrants. In 1890, only 1.4 percent of immigrants living in the United States was nonwhite. But by 1999, 75 percent were nonwhite, according to the Population Reference Bureau.
Growth of the Asian and Hispanic populations is particularly visible in some congressional districts. More than one-half million more Hispanics voted in congressional races in 1998 than in 1994, increasing from 3.4 million to 4.1 million, according to Jennifer Day, who co-authored a Census Bureau report on voter participation in the 1998 elections.
"While the overall number of voters nationwide dropped by 2.6 million, the number of Hispanics going to the polls between 1994 and 1998 rose sharply," Day said in a written statement released Tuesday.
During the same period, the number of Asians and Pacific Islanders voting in congressional elections increased by 366,000 to 1.4 million voters.
But these increases do not mean that a greater percentage of these two groups took part. The turnout rate among Hispanic voters remained unchanged at 33 percent while it dropped among Asians, from 39 percent in 1994 to 32 percent in 1998.
The rise in the number of Asian and Hispanic voters is attributed to an increase in the number of citizens of voting age. Hispanics of voting age increased from 10.4 million to 12.4 million while the number of voters among Asians and Pacific Islanders increased from 2.6 million to 4.3 million.
|
