Population diversity

Although it is difficult to paint a picture of the average American today, there is no difficulty in obtaining data to describe American society. Americans seem to be fascinated by surveys, research studies, questionnaires, and opinion polls which describe them and their country.

The Constitution of the United States specifies that a nationwide census, a "head count" of all Americans, must be taken every ten years. Today, the census also gives a wealth of information on almost any aspect of American life. The information is public and easily available, and anyone interested in accurate descriptive data on the US should consult the most recent edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

The US has a very diverse population – 31 ancestry groups have more than a million people. White Americans (mainly German, Irish, English Americans) are the largest racial ancestry group. African Americans and Asian Americans (Chinese and Filipino) are the largest racial minorities and ancestry groups. American Indian and Alaskan native ancestry include 4,5 million people.

According to a nationwide census which is taken every ten years 80% consider themselves "white", 13% - "black", 6% - Hispanic, Asian – 4% and so on.

The chart shows, among other things, that of the total number of Americans in 1980, about 83% considered themselves "white", 12% "black", over 6% Hispanic, and so on.

These national percentages are not evenly distributed across the nation. In Mississippi, for example, blacks make up about 35% of that state's population, whereas in Wyoming they represent less than 1%. The figure for Los Angeles is 17% or around 500,000 people. Other groups are also unevenly distributed. One in three U.S. residents belongs to a minority. Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority group, with 45.5 million (15 percent of the U.S. population).

Blacks are the second-largest minority group, with 40.7 million (13.5 percent), but Asians are the second fastest-growing group, with 15.2 million (5 percent).

America’s 38.1 million foreign-born residents represent 12.6 percent of the population.

There is a growing trend toward broader dispersal of immigrants across the United States.

Without a doubt, the American immigration experience, then and now, is one of the most important factors in American life. All immigrants have contributed to development of some "typical" American characteristics. Among these are the willingness to take risks and to strike out for the unknown with independence and optimism. Another is patriotism for the many who feel that they are Americans by choice.

The New Face of America

At best, we can say that an American is someone who meets the legal requirements of citizenship and who considers himself or herself to be an American.

And, any person born on American soil automatically has the right to American citizenship. Significantly, the older categories of nationality brought from the Old World – race, language, religion, and parents' ancestry – have become relatively unimportant in America. They can be used to describe an American, but not to define one.

The Census Bureau predicts that by 2042, minorities, collectively, will make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population, with much of the increase due to immigration.

The most recent Department of Homeland Security statistics show that in fiscal year 2007, 1,052,415 people obtained legal permanent residence (green cards) and 660,477 immigrants became U.S. citizens.

And between fiscal 2004 and 2008, the number of immigrant visas issued annually by the State Department jumped from 379,402 to 470,088.

The face of America is constantly, and often very rapidly, changing.