CHAPTER 1
DEMOGRAPHY

MINORITIES ARE A GROWING PERCENTAGE OF THE NATION

The U.S. Bureau of the Census reported in Census 2000 that the U.S. population totaled 281.4 million people. (See Table 1.1.) Of that number, 69.1 percent identified themselves as white alone. The other 30.9 percent were members of one or more minority racial or ethnic groups. Although women are a majority of the nation's population (143.4 million women versus 138.1 million men according to Census 2000), women are often considered a "minority" in social issues. In this publication, however, women are treated only in relation to racial or ethnic minority groups. The Census Bureau predicted that by 2010, 67.3 percent of Americans would be white non-Hispanics and 32.7 percent of Americans would belong to a minority group. (See Table 1.2.) By 2070, such estimates indicated that white non-Hispanic Americans would comprise 46.8 percent of the population, while 53.2 percent would belong to a minority racial or ethnic group. (See Table 1.3.)

RACIAL/ETHNIC ORIGIN CLASSIFICATIONS

In 1977 the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting, a policy directive that established four racial and two ethnicity categories. The racial categories were white, black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander. The ethnicity categories were Hispanic origin and not of Hispanic origin. (People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.)

In the past, for decennial censuses (those occurring every ten years), the Census Bureau divided the American population into the four racial categories identified by the OMB, adding the category "some other race." The U.S. government uses these race/ethnic origin data to make decisions, among other things, about funding and laws. For example, federal programs use the race information to promote support programs for the elderly and equal employment opportunities, while states use the data to ensure compliance with redistricting requirements.

As ethnic identity has become more complex because of immigration and interracial marriages and births, a growing number of people have objected to categories based on race. It is no longer unusual to find people whose backgrounds include two or more races.

In 1994 the Census Bureau conducted hearings to consider adding new choices to the categories that had been used in the 1990 census. The bureau found that Arab Americans were unhappy with their official designation of "White, non-European." This group includes persons from the Middle East, Turkey, and North Africa. Many indigenous Hawaiians wanted to be recategorized from Pacific Islander to Native American, reflecting historical accuracy and giving them access to greater minority benefits.

Some Hispanics wanted the Census Bureau to identify them as a race and not as an ethnic origin, and to replace the term "Hispanic" with "Latino." They asserted that "Hispanic" recalls the colonization of Latin America by Spain and Portugal and has become as offensive as the term "Negro" is for African-Americans. When Hispanics were surveyed, however, the results showed they preferred to be identified by their families' country of origin, such as Puerto Rican, Colombian, Cuban, or even just American.

A number of African-Americans wanted the Census Bureau to retire the term "Black." Nevertheless, there was some difference of opinion. People from the Caribbean, for example, preferred to be labeled by their families' country of origin, such as Jamaican or Haitian American. Africans who are not American also find the term inaccurate. Although "African-American" has become more prominent in spoken English in recent years, lack of agreement and the length of the term have been significant factors in preventing its adoption by the government.

Census 2000

In October 1997 the OMB announced the revised standards for collecting and tabulating federal information on race and ethnicity. The OMB expected all surveys to comply with these standards by January 1, 2003.

Conforming to the OMB revised standards, Census 2000 categorized the races into White, Black/African-American/Negro, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and Asian. The Census Bureau also added a sixth category—Some Other Race. In

addition, the bureau included two ethnicity categories—Hispanic/Latino and Not Hispanic/Not Latino. To provide an accurate count of multiracial Americans, Census 2000 allowed Americans to select more than one race.

The American Indian/Alaska Native category (which replaced the American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut categories of the 1990 census) had a write-in space for tribal affiliation. The Asian category further listed six specific Asian groups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese), while Pacific Islanders (following the Native Hawaiian category) could choose from Guamanian or Chamorro and Samoan. Persons who chose Other Asian, Other Pacific Islander, or Some Other Race were provided with a write-in area. (See Figure 1.1.) The Hispanic-origin question had a write-in space for subgroups other than the major groups of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican.

Census 2000 identified whites as being anyone having ancestry origins in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

HISPANICS

"Hispanic" is a broad term used to describe a varied ethnic group of individuals who trace their cultural heritage to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. The term can also refer to persons whose Spanish ancestors were residents of the southwestern region of the United States that was formerly under Spanish or Mexican control.

According to Census 2000, Americans of Hispanic origin are the largest minority group in the United States, at 12.5 percent of the population. (See Table 1.1.) Their population in the United States is growing rapidly. In 1950 Hispanics comprised less than 3 percent of the population. By 1980 they represented 6.4 percent of the population (14.6 million). In 1990 Hispanics totaled about 22.5 million, representing 9.1 percent of the total U.S. population,

or one out of every eleven persons. In Census 2000 the number rose to some 35.3 million. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2050, Hispanics will make up 24.3 percent of the population, and by 2070, there will be nearly 132.5 million persons of Hispanic descent, making up 28.6 percent of the total population. (See Table 1.3.)

Immigration and high birth rates are two major reasons for the large growth of the Hispanic population. As a result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (PL 99-603), by 1992 about 2.6 million Mexicans were granted legal status in the United States. In 1997 the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimated that, as of October 1996, approximately five million (with a range of 4.6 to 5.4 million) illegal aliens lived in the United States, with the majority (2.7 million) coming from Mexico. In 2002 the Department of Justice estimated that the number of illegal aliens had risen to 7.6 million, although there was no indication how many of these people came from Mexico.

The Census Bureau counts all persons in the United States regardless of legal status, although illegal aliens are likely to be undercounted. Many members of the Hispanic community, particularly those who immigrated to the United States in recent years, have yet to become citizens. While 74.2 percent of Hispanics who entered the country before 1970 became citizens by 2000, only 6.7 percent of those who entered the country between 1990 and 2000 became citizens by 2000. (See Figure 1.2.)

Hispanic Origins

Hispanic Americans trace their origins to a number of countries. In a population survey in March 2000, the Census Bureau reported that 66.1 percent of the Hispanics in the United States were of Mexican heritage. (See Figure 1.3.) Approximately 14.5 percent were of Central and South American origin, and 9 percent were of Puerto Rican heritage. Another 6.4 percent had origins in the Caribbean and other countries, while 4 percent were of Cuban descent. The differences in origin can often mean significant variations in where Hispanics live, their education, income, and living conditions.

Fertility

The fertility rate refers to the number of live births per 1,000 women ages fifteen to forty-four in a specified group. The National Center for Health Statistics in 2000 found that Hispanic women had a higher fertility rate than non-Hispanic women. According to the National Vital Statistics Report, in 2000, there were 105.9 births per 1,000 Hispanic women ages fifteen to forty-four, compared to a fertility rate of 61.8 births per 1,000 non-Hispanic women. Among subsets of Hispanics, the fertility rate varied widely. In 2000 Mexican women had a fertility rate of 115.1 births per 1,000 women, while Puerto Rican women had a fertility rate of 84.3 births, and Cuban women had a fertility rate of 57.3 births. (See Table 1.4.)

A Younger Population

According to Census 2000, the median age (half are older, half are younger) of Hispanics was 25.8 years, considerably lower than the median age of the non-Hispanic white population of 38.6 years, indicating a great concentration of younger people. More than one-third (35 percent) of all Hispanics were less than eighteen years old, compared to 22.6 percent of the non-Hispanic white population. Only 4.9 percent of Hispanics were found by Census 2000 to be sixty-five years and older, compared to 15 percent of non-Hispanic whites. (See Table 1.5.)

Geographic Distribution

The majority of Hispanic Americans live in the western United States. As of March 2000, 44.7 percent of Hispanics lived in the West, followed by 33.2 percent in the South. Some 14.1 percent of Hispanics lived in the Northeast, while only 7.9 percent lived in the Midwest. (See Figure 1.4.)

Despite the disparity in the numbers of Hispanics living in different regions of the country, the likelihood of Hispanics living in a particular place depends upon their country of descent. According to Census 2000, Hispanics of Mexican descent made up 18.1 percent of the West population—the area of the country where they were most likely to live. (See Table 1.6.) Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent were more likely to live in the Northeast, where they made up 3.9 percent of the population. (See Table 1.7.) Hispanics of Cuban descent were more concentrated in the South, where they comprised 0.9 percent of the population. (See Table 1.8.)

Mexican Americans

The majority of Hispanic Americans are descendants of the Spanish and Mexican people who lived in the West and Southwest when those regions were first Spanish (starting in the 1500s) and later Mexican territory (after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821). Their forebears were absorbed into the United States when Texas revolted, broke away from Mexico, became a republic, and then finally joined the United States during the 1840s. The Mexican-American War (1846–48) added California, the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado), and the Rio Grande boundary to the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. As a result, Hispanics living in those areas became Americans.

The Mexican-origin population, which more than doubled in the last two decades of the twentieth century, continues to grow. Hispanic Americans of Mexican origin numbered 20.6 million, or 7.3 percent of the country's total population, according to Census 2000. (See Table 1.1.) They remain concentrated for the most part in the West and in the South. (See Table 1.6 and Table 1.8.)

According to Census 2000, Hispanics made up 19.3 percent of the population of central cities inside metropolitan areas. Hispanics of Mexican descent alone accounted for 11 percent of that population. (See Table 1.9.) Residents with Mexican origins also outnumbered other Hispanics living outside metropolitan areas. According to Census 2000, Hispanics of Mexican descent made up 3.8 percent of the total population outside metropolitan areas, compared with Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent (0.2 percent) and Cuban Americans (0.1 percent). (See Table 1.10.)

Puerto Rican Americans

The situation of Puerto Ricans is unique in American society. Ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which ended the Spanish-American War, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, formerly a Spanish colony, became a U.S. commonwealth. In 1917 the Revised Organic Act (the Jones Act) granted the island a bill of rights and its own legislature. It also conferred U.S. citizenship to all Puerto Ricans.

Following World War II (1939–45), an industrialization program was launched in Puerto Rico. While the program benefited many, it sharply reduced the number of agricultural jobs, driving many rural residents to the cities. Combined with a high birth rate, this led to unemployment, overcrowding, and poverty. More recently, industries have moved away in search of cheaper labor, further compounding the economic problems. As a result, between 1940 and 1970, approximately 750,000 Puerto Ricans immigrated to the U.S. mainland. In 1940 fewer than 70,000 Puerto Ricans lived in the contiguous United States; in 1999, three million called the United States home. Partly because of the relative ease with which Puerto Ricans can travel in the United States, many move freely between the United States and Puerto Rico.

Most of the first Puerto Ricans who arrived in the United States settled in New York City in the Manhattan neighborhood of East Harlem, which came to be known

as El Barrio (the neighborhood). Eventually, Puerto Rican immigrants moved in greater numbers to other boroughs of the city and into New Jersey.

Census 2000 listed 3.4 million Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent, making up 1.2 percent of the total population. (See Table 1.1.) They are more likely to live in the Northeast and reside mainly inside central cities in metropolitan areas, where they make up 2.3 percent of the population in such areas. (See Table 1.9.)

Cuban Americans

Cuban Americans are the third-largest group of Hispanic Americans and numbered 1.2 million as of Census 2000. (See Table 1.1.) Fleeing Cuba during the early 1960s after the regime of Fulgencio Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro, many Cubans settled in Miami, Florida, and surrounding Dade County. Most of these political refugees were older, middle class, and educated. Many fled to be able to maintain a capitalist way of life,

and many succeeded in achieving economic prosperity in the United States. While language differences caused initial difficulties, most adapted well, and Cubans are the most economically successful of the Hispanic ethnic groups. Unlike Americans of Mexican and Puerto Rican backgrounds, who began migrating throughout the country

during the 1990s, the Cuban population has generally remained concentrated in Florida, although large numbers also live in New Jersey, New York, and California.

In 1980 Castro's forces ousted 125,000 people from Cuba in what became known as the Mariel Boatlift, named after the town in Cuba from which they sailed. Because

most of these new immigrants were from less wealthy and less educated backgrounds than their predecessors, and some were actually criminals or people who were mentally ill, many had difficulty fitting into the existing Cuban communities in the United States. Also, unlike the Cubans who came before them, they had spent twenty years living under a communist government very different from the democratic government they encountered in the United States.

In 1993 and 1994 more than 29,000 Cubans tried to enter the United States after fleeing a severe economic crisis in their own country. Most attempted the trip by boats and rafts, but were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken back to Cuba, where they were detained at the U.S. Air Force base at Guantanamo Bay. By January 1996 most detainees had been allowed to enter the United States, and the detention camps were closed.

A case that highlighted the plight of Cuban immigrants was that of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. In November 1999 Gonzalez, along with his mother, left Cuba for the United States in a boat with several other Cubans seeking refuge in the United States. The boat capsized and several passengers drowned, including Gonzalez's mother. The six-year-old was saved and taken to live with his mother's relatives in Miami, Florida. When his father,

who still lived in Cuba, demanded that Gonzalez be returned to him, it touched off a custody war between the father and the Florida relatives that quickly escalated and captured the attention of the media and the nation. The INS ruled that Gonzalez was to be returned to Cuba to his father, a decision that was ultimately upheld despite several legal challenges. However, many Cuban Americans pointed to the hardships under the communist rule of Castro as grounds for allowing Gonzalez to stay in the United States. Others asserted that regardless of the political situation in Cuba, the United States had no right to keep young Elian from his father, who wanted to remain in Cuba.

BLACK OR AFRICAN-AMERICANS

In 1619 the first Africans arrived in what was to become the United States. Subsequently, their numbers increased rapidly to fill the vast demand for slave labor in the new land. The first slaves were brought into this country via the West Indies, but as demand increased, they were soon brought directly to the English colonies on the mainland in North America. Most were delivered to the South and worked on plantations, where they supplied cheap labor.

The vast majority of African-Americans in the United States were kept as slaves until the Civil War (1861–65). At the outbreak of hostilities, according to the 1860 census, the states that comprised the Confederacy had a slave population of 3.5 million, compared to a white population of nearly 5.5 million. The Union states and territories, on the other hand, had a white population of 21.5 million, with slaves numbering 432,650. It is also worth noting that some Native Americans were slaveholders. The Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw tribes owned a combined total of 7,369 slaves.

In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the Confederate states, which were then rebelling against the Union. In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery throughout the United States. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment afforded the freed slaves equal protection under the law, while the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted them the right to vote. The present population of African-Americans includes not only those descended from former slaves, but also those who have since immigrated from Africa, the West Indies, and Central and South America.

According to the Census Bureau, between 1981 and 1990 the African-American population increased from 27.1 million to 30.6 million, making African-Americans 12.3 percent of the U.S. population in 1990, up from 11.7 percent in 1980. According to Census 2000, there were 34.7 million African-Americans, making up 12.3 percent of the population—no percentage change from 1990. (See Table 1.1.)

Geographic Distribution

Few African-Americans voluntarily migrated from the southern farms and plantations in the first decades after the abolition of slavery. As a result, at the beginning of the twentieth century, 90 percent of U.S. African-Americans still lived in the South. However, when World War I (1914–18) interrupted the flow of immigrant labor from Europe, large numbers of African-Americans migrated from the rural South to northern industrial cities. Compared to the oppressive system of segregation in the South, economic and social conditions were better in the North for many African-Americans, encouraging a continuous flow of migrants. During each decade between 1910 and 1970 at least 300,000 African-Americans left the South; in the three decades between 1940 and 1970, more than one million left. The African-American migrations following World War I and World War II are among the largest voluntary internal migrations in history.

Most African-Americans moved to the Northeast and Midwest, although after 1940, significant numbers moved West. According to Census 2000, 6.5 million African-Americans lived in the Midwest. (See Table 1.11.) Approximately 6.1 million African-Americans lived in the Northeast. (See Table 1.7.) The smallest number—3.1 million—lived in the West. (See Table 1.6.) The traditional migration from the South to the North dwindled dramatically in the 1970s. In fact after 1975, due largely to the favorable economic conditions developing in booming Sunbelt cities, African-Americans started migrating to the South in droves. According to Census 2000, almost 19 million African-Americans lived in the South, making up 18.9 percent of the South's population. (See Table 1.8.)

Median Age and Fertility

In 1980 the median age for African-Americans was 24.8 years. In 2000 the median age reached 30.2 years. The African-American population remained younger compared to the median age of 38.6 years for non-Hispanic whites in 2000. In 2000, 31.4 percent of African-Americans were under the age of eighteen, compared with 22.6 percent of non-Hispanic whites under the age of eighteen. (See Table 1.5.)

In 2000 African-American women had a fertility rate of 73.7 births per 1,000 women ages fifteen to forty-four, more than that of non-Hispanic white women (58.5), but less than the rate for Hispanic women, which was 105.9. (See Table 1.4.)

ASIAN-AMERICANS

The term "Asian-American" is a catch-all term that did not gain currency until the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was not until 1980 that the Census Bureau created the "Asian and Pacific Islander" category, a departure from the previous practice of counting several Asian groups separately. Although seemingly a geographic description, "Asian and Pacific Islander" contains racial overtones, given that natives of Australia and New Zealand are not included, nor are whites born in the Asian region of the former Soviet Union. According to Census 2000, the Asian-American population was 10.2 million, making up 3.6 percent of the country's population. Native Hawaiian

and other Pacific Islanders had a population of 398,835, making up 0.1 percent of the total U.S. population. An additional 475,579 claimed in Census 2000 to be Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander in combination with one or more other races, bringing the total to 874,414. (See Table 1.1.)

Chinese Immigration in 1800s

The first major immigration of people from Asia to the United States involved the Chinese. From the time of the California gold rush of 1849 until the early 1880s, it is estimated that as many as 250,000 Chinese immigrated to America, with the vast majority coming from the Pearl River delta of Guangdong Province. Most hoped to strike it rich in California, the "Golden Mountain," and then return home. A few fulfilled that dream, but the vast majority stayed in America, two-thirds in California, where they faced intense discrimination. They became the object of political posturing that portrayed "cheap Chinese labor" as a threat to American workers.

While most African-Americans were able to gain citizenship with the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, an exception was carved out for Asian immigrants. They were designated "aliens ineligible to citizenship." The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (22 Stat. 58) then stopped the entry of Chinese into the country, with the exception of a few merchants and students. As a result, China became the source of America's first illegal aliens. In addition to jumping ship or illegally crossing borders, many took advantage of the 1906 earthquake and devastating fires in San Francisco, which destroyed the city's vital statistics records, to gain legal status by forging birth certificates. By law, any male of Chinese heritage born in America had the right to return to China for any children they fathered (although they could not bring back the alien mother), so that many of these fraudulent U.S. citizens escorted to America a host of "paper sons." Despite this traffic and other means of illegal entry, the Chinese American population actually declined from the 1880s to the 1920s. Laws regarding Chinese immigration to the United States did not change until World War II, when China became an ally and President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Other nationalities that comprise the Asian-American category also immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. The Japanese first came to the United States in significant numbers during the 1890s, although many laborers had previously settled in Hawaii. Like the Chinese, the Japanese lived for the most part in the western United States. There was some call for a "Japanese Exclusion Act," but because Japan was an emerging Pacific power such legislation was never passed. Overall, Japanese immigrants fared better than their Chinese counterparts and soon outpaced them in population. Nevertheless, when Japan and the United States went to war in 1941, approximately 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were removed from their homes and confined in detention camps. Although the United States was also at war with Germany and Italy, citizens of German and Italian descent or birth were not subject to incarceration without cause.

Before World War II, Filipinos, Asian Indians, and Koreans represented a negligible share of the Asian-American population, at less than 0.2 percent. In 1940 there were an estimated 250,000 Asian-Americans, of which 120,000 were Japanese, 78,000 Chinese, and 46,000 Filipinos. Asian Indians totaled some 5,000, and Koreans numbered even fewer. As was the case with Puerto Ricans, Filipinos began to immigrate to the United States in the years following the Spanish-American War, when their country was annexed and eventually granted commonwealth status. Designated "American nationals," Filipinos held a unique position: They were not eligible for citizenship, but they also could not be prevented from entering the United States. Many Filipinos immigrated during the 1920s looking for work, but the Great Depression of the 1930s stemmed this flow. Asian Indians had come to the United States in small numbers, generally settling in New York City and other eastern ports, but it was not until the early years of the twentieth century that they began immigrating to the West Coast, generally entering through western Canada. Koreans came to the United States from Hawaii, where several thousand had immigrated between 1903 and 1905. Both Asian Indians and Koreans, however, would lose their eligibility to enter the United States following the Immigration Act of 1917 (39 Stat. 874), accounting for their small populations prior to World War II. Once the Chinese Exclusion act was repealed, however, the door was also open for Filipinos and Asian Indians to gain entry to the United States as well as to earn citizenship during the postwar years. The Korean War in the early 1950s led to a long-term U.S. military presence in the country, resulting in a number of Korean-born wives of military personnel relocating to the United States. In addition, many Korean children were adopted and brought to America. A larger influx of Koreans, a family migration, took place in the mid-1960s.

Sharp Rise in Immigration

The growth of the Asian-American population during the 1980s continued a trend that had begun during the 1960s, when their population rose by more than 55 percent. During the 1970s the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) population increased 141 percent. Between 1980 and 1991 almost half (46.2 percent) of all immigrants admitted to the United States arrived from Asia. API immigration during the 1980s can be divided into two "streams." The first stream came from Asian countries that already had large populations in the United States (such as the People's Republic of China, Korea, and the Philippines). These immigrants, many of whom were highly educated, came primarily for family reunification and through employment provisions of the immigration laws. The second stream consisted primarily of immigrants and refugees from the war-torn countries of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). They were admitted under U.S. policies that supported admitting political refugees after the Vietnam War, as well as those escaping unstable economic and political conditions in neighboring countries. Between 1975 and 1994 more than 1.2 million refugees arrived in the United States from Southeast Asia and China.

China and the Philippines were the leading Asian countries of origin for U.S. immigrants between 1981 and 1996, with 20 percent each. Vietnam had the second-highest percentage (17 percent) of immigrants moving to the United States, followed by India (12 percent), and Korea (11 percent). Other Asian immigrants comprised 19 percent of newcomers from that part of the world.

According to Census 2000, China was the top Asian country of origin for Asian-Americans, with 2.4 million residents tracing their roots to China. (See Table 1.1.) The Philippines was next with 1.9 million, and India rounded out the top three with 1.7 million reported residents. Approximately 1.1 million Asian-Americans had ancestry origins in Korea, and the same number had origins in Vietnam. (See Table 1.12.) Among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians had the highest population according to Census 2000. (See Table 1.13.)

Geographic Distribution

The majority of Asians live in the West, which boasted a total of 5 million according to Census 2000. (See Table 1.6.) This accounted for nearly half of the Asian population in the United States. (See Figure 1.5.) The three cities with the largest populations of Asians were New York City, Los Angeles, and San Jose, California, but places such as Honolulu, Hawaii, where 67.7 percent of the total population was Asian (alone or in combination), had large percentages of Asians. (See Table 1.14.) Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are most concentrated in the West, which was home to 76.3 percent of the group's population. (See Figure 1.6.) Most Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders live in Hawaii. (See Table 1.15.)

According to Census 2000, minorities of Asian origin were more likely to live in metropolitan areas than outside metropolitan areas. Asian-Americans made up 4.3 percent of the population of metropolitan areas. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are also more likely to live in metropolitan areas than they are outside metropolitan areas. (See Table 1.10 and Table 1.16.)

Median Age and Fertility

The median age of the Asian-origin population in the United States was 32.7 years, according to Census 2000. The median age for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders was 27.5 years. Approximately 24.1 percent of Asian-Americans and 31.9 percent of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders were under eighteen years of age, compared to 22.6 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Only 7.8 percent of

Asians and 5.2 percent of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders were sixty-five years and older. (See Table 1.5.)

Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders tend to have their children at later ages than other groups. In 2000 they were most likely to have their children between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four years old. They were more likely than any other group to have children between the ages of thirty and thirty-four. The fertility rate for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women between the ages of thirty and thirty-four was 120.8 births per 1,000 women in 2000, compared to 97.4 births per 1,000 white women in that age group and 67.5 births per 1,000 African-American women in that age group. (See Table 1.17.)

NATIVE AMERICANS

Most experts agree that the people known as Native Americans and Alaska Natives arrived in North America from northeast Asia at least 30,000 years ago during the last of the Ice Age glaciations (coverings of large areas of Earth with ice). At that time, the two continents were connected by a land bridge over what is currently the Bering Strait. Recent studies indicate that they may have actually come over many tens of thousands of years earlier.

Migrants, who settled on the northern coast of Alaska and the Yukon River Valley, which were free of ice barriers, became known as Eskimos and Aleuts. Those who ventured farther south followed the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and continued along the mountainous spine of North America into Central and South America. There, they moved east throughout the central plains and eastern highlands of both continents and were later erroneously named Indians by exploring Spaniards. The misnomer is attributed to Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), who, upon landing in the Bahamas in 1492, thought he had reached the islands off the eastern region of Asia, called the Indies. He therefore greeted the inhabitants as "Indians." Today, many descendants of the original settlers prefer to be called Native Americans.

Native Americans have always been associated with having a close relationship with the earth. Some have been farmers, while others have specialized in hunting and fishing. The arrival of white men from Europe eventually changed the life Native Americans had known for thousands of years. Devastating wars, disease, the annihilation of the buffalo, and the loss of land fit for cultivation led to the elimination of much of their race.

According to Census 2000, the Native American and Alaska Native population made up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, with 2.5 million people. An additional 1.6 million people, however, indicated on Census 2000 that they were Native American or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. (See Table 1.1.)

Counting the number of Americans who claimed to be Native American alone, the population increased by 516,722, or 26 percent since 1990. However, counting the number of Americans who claimed to be Native American alone or in conjunction with another race, an increase of 2.2 million, or 110 percent, was recorded between 1990 and 2000, according to the Census Bureau's report Native Population 2000. Using the Native American alone numbers, population projections by the Census Bureau showed the Native American population growing to 1.1 percent of the nation's population by the year 2050 and remaining at that level through at least 2070. (See Table 1.3.)

Geographic Distribution

Native Americans and Alaska Natives were most likely to live in the West (1.2 million). (See Table 1.6.) Approximately 48 percent of the Native American and Alaska Native alone population lived in the West, while 43 percent of the Native American and Alaska Native alone or in combination population lived in the West. (See Figure 1.7.)

Many Native Americans live on, or near, reservations, and are members of groupings called "tribes." According to Census 2000, the largest tribal groupings were the Cherokee, followed by the Navajo and the Latin American Indians. (See Figure 1.8.) Many Alaska Natives are also members of such groups. The largest tribal groupings of Alaska Natives according to Census 2000 were Eskimos, followed by Tlingit-Haida, Alaska Athabascan, and Aleut. (See Figure 1.9.)

Median Age and Birth Rate

According to Census 2000, the Native American/Alaska Native population had a median age of twenty-eight years, 7.3 years younger than the U.S. median age of 35.3. (See Table 1.5.) In 2000 the fertility rate of Native Americans and Alaska Natives was highest for women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four years of age, at 135.6 live births per 1,000 women in that age group. (See Table 1.17.)