America set to hit 300 million and counting ..

[Janice]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. population is on target to hit 300 million this fall and it's a good bet the milestone baby -- or immigrant -- will be Hispanic.

No one will know for sure because the date and time will be just an estimate.

But Latinos -- immigrants and those born in this country -- are driving the population growth, accounting for almost half the increase last year, more than any other ethnic or racial group.

White non-Hispanics, who make up about two-thirds of the population, accounted for less than one-fifth of the increase.

When the population reached 200 million in 1967, there was no accurate tally of U.S. Hispanics. The first effort to count Hispanics came in the 1970 census, and the results were dubious.

The Census Bureau counted about 9.6 million Latinos, a little less than 5 percent of the population, but the bureau acknowledged that figure was inflated.

In 1967, there were fewer than 10 million people in the U.S. who were born in other countries; that was not even one in 20.

Today, there are 36 million immigrants, about one in eight.

"We were much more of an insular society back then," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

As of early Sunday, there were 299,058,932 people in the United States, according to the Census Bureau's population clock. The estimate is based on annual numbers for births, deaths and immigration, averaged throughout the year.

The 300-millionth person in the U.S. will likely be born -- or cross the border -- in October, though bureau officials are wary of committing to a particular month because of the subjective nature of the clock.

[kevin]

Without them our population would remain stable or decline, leading to its own set of demographic/economic problems. I'm glad that America is becoming a more diverse and interconnected nation, its only natural in the way of things.

[coriolis]

I for one look back to that "insular" nation with a lot of comfort. However, there's no doubt that you can't stand in the way of historical trends, no matter how hard you try. I suppose that it's like getting old. If you wax nostalgic too much, you fritter your life away and become irrelevant.

The thing that amazes me is how history is driven both by the large ambitions of a few in power, but also by the modest ambitions of the masses. In both cases they pursue their own ends, but in the end, the results are nothing like they ever inteneded.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Without them our population would remain stable or decline, leading to its own set of demographic/economic problems. I'm glad that America is becoming a more diverse and interconnected nation, its only natural in the way of things.

I have no problems whatsoever with immigration, but I wish it would be of the legal type. There are just as many trying to come in from abroad who can't simply hop a fence and stride into the promised land. I also, while thoroughly approving of diversity--do not think that the principle spoken language should be one of them. Language is a unifying factor--or a divisive one (Just ask anyone in Quebec), before anyone jumps to any conclusion... my own maternal lineage is VERY Hispanic... albeit also very legal--and they'd all made learning English a primary concern. Frankly, I don't think that "pressing 1 for English... yada yada.." should be an option on most of our businesses.. JMO... I can understand it on some emergency lines... but not on almost every line you call nowadays.

Agree with you completely on the waxing nostalgic too much, Coriolis... while I love a lot of the past, and make the most of the present... unless one plans and invests in a very real future... they're likely not to have much of one.

A2K