The Population of the USA .

The Population of the USA has grown enormously since its birth in 1776. The increase in population has not happened at the same rate in every part of the country. At first all the citizens of the US lived in the narrowship of the Atlantic sea coast, which made up the original 13 states. Ever since that the population has moved steadily westward and continues to do so.

At the end of the War of Independence the US had the population of between 2 and 3 million, of whom 90 per cent were o Anglo-Saxon stock and most of the rest being of African origin. By 1860 the total population was close to 31 million. From then until 1920 well over 30 million immigrants entered the country. They came not only from the British Isles, but from most other European countries as well – Germany, Scandinavia and later from poverty ridden Italy, Russia, Greece, China and others.

At the end of the 19-th century Congress greatly limited Chinese immigration. In 1907 Japanese immigration was also restricted. Those restrictions began to change only in the 1960-s. One of President John F. Kennedy’s goals was to change the 19-the immigration law. He said that the nation that was built by the immigrants of all lands can ask those who now seek admission "What can you do for your country?” But we should not be asking "In what country were you born?” He died before things changed. President  Johnson signed the law that enabled people from all over the world to apply for the US citizenship in 1965.

Individuals from very poor nations or oppressive governments often sought new lives in the USA. In 1970-86 more than 7.5 million people from European countries, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Asia immigrated in the USA. In recent years the new immigrants have changed the face of America. Once again Americans have heard a language other than English being spoken by their neighbors. Often this language is an Asian one. These new immigrants are willing to work hard to fulfill their personal ambitions. In doing so they are becoming a part of the American tradition. Their contributions are evident everywhere – in science, literature, architecture, food and customs. The USA has become a place "where the cultures of the world crisscross”.

The Constitution of the USA provides for a census of the population every 10 years primarily to establish a basis for appointment of members of the House of Representatives among the states. Results of the 1980 census indicated that the population of the USA was 226.545 million. In 1990 it grew up to 248.709.873. Now the population is close to 300 million. Approximately 51.4 per cent of the population are females, 48.6 – males. Well over 90 per cent of the present-day Americans were born in the USA and nearly all have been assimilated into the American way of life. The first census showed that over 90 per cent of the population were farmers, while now they make up only 2 per cent (5 million).

Black Americans are by far the nation’s largest distinct minority. They constitute about 12 per cent of the population. Their distribution over the past years has changed radically from a concentration of the great majority in the rural south to urban centers in substantially every part of the nation. At the time of Columbus’s discovery there were probably 1.5 million Indians in what is now continental USA. Nowadays the aboriginal Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts number 1.4 million. There are also about 15 million people of Hispanic origin and about 4 million of other ethnic groups.

The average density of the population in the USA is over 27 persons per square kilometer. But this figure masks the high densities of states such as New Jersey (334), Rhode Island (312) and Massachusetts (271). All these states are well established manufacturing and trading areas with intensive farms outside many large cities. By contrast, Alaska has only 1.1 persons per square kilometer, South Dakota – 3.5, Wyoming – 4.7, Montana – 5.5. All these thinly settled states are in the Cordillera or western plains and all suffer from at least partial aridity.

The following 10 states have the largest population: California (29.760 million), New York (17.990), Texas (16.986), Florida (12.937), Pennsylvania (11.881), Illinois (11.430), Ohio (10.847), Michigan (9.295), New Jersey (7.730) and North Carolina (6.628). Wyoming (479), Alaska (524) and Vermont (557) have the smallest population.

The USA is an urban nation. After the mid-1930s there was a decline in the number of people living on farms. A continued large-scaled migration from the rural areas has been one of the major population movements of the 20-th century. The population of the USA has been moving from farms to cities for a long time. By 1890 every third American was an urban dweller. Now the urban percentage is overwhelming (close to 74 per cent). An important fact about urban migration now is not so much people moving from farm to factory, but the size of urban places to which they move. Over the last years more and more people have tended to concentrate in 12 largest metropolitan centers that embrace old cities and new suburbs. The big cities have grown bigger and smaller ones outside metropolitan areas have lost population. Specifically, the urban regions with less than a million residents grow more slowly than those with more than a million. Migration into cities and surrounding suburbs is expected to continue and even accelerate. Now the most highly populated metropolitan centers are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Dallas and Houston. (For improved information see An Outline of American Geography.) In 1986 there were 182 cities with the population of more than 100.000 people in the USA.