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The Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census. This was the twenty-second federal census and the largest single civil administrative peacetime effort in the history of the United States. The U.S. resident population includes the total number of people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; its population was 3,808,610, an 8.1% increase over the number from a decade earlier. Population Profile See also Race (United States Census). In an introduction to a more detailed population profile (see references below), the Census Bureau highlighted the following facts about U.S population dynamics: Population breakdown The most-populous state in the country was California (33,871,648); the least populous was Wyoming (493,782). The state that gained the most numerically since the 1990 census was California, up 4,111,627. Nevada had the highest percentage growth in population, climbing 66.3% (796,424 people) since 1990. Changes in population
Languages spoken at home The Modern Language Association provides a website with overviews and detailed data about the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and seven groups of less commonly spoken languages in the United States. Languages other than English are spoken at home by 46,951,595 respondents or 17.88% of people who are at least five years old. Below are the top languages spoken at home. Percentage is with respect to the number of people reported language other than English. Languages that contribute over 1% are listed. (Note that our ranking differs from the MLA website because we combine French and French Creole.) Reapportionment
Adjustment controversy In the years leading up to the 2000 census, there was substantial controversy over whether the Bureau should adjust census figures based on a follow-up survey, called the post-enumeration survey, of a sample of blocks. (In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution prohibits the use of such figures for apportionment purposes, but it may be permissible for other purposes where feasible.) The controversy was partly technical, but also partly political, since based on data from the 1990 census both parties believed that adjustment would likely have the effect, after redistricting, of slightly increasing Democratic representation in legislative bodies. (See here and here for background.) Following the census, discrepancies between the adjusted census figures and demographic estimates of population change could not be resolved in time to meet legal deadlines for the provision of redistricting data, and the Census Bureau therefore recommended that the unadjusted results be used for this purpose. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce (the official in charge of making the determination). See also United States Census Bureau web pages Other 2000 census websites | |||||||||||
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