The U.S. population is on target to hit 300 million this fall, with some Baltimore regions boasting the largest increases in Hispanic populations in the state.
Baltimore County saw an increase of more than 4,000 Latinos from 2000 to 2004, followed by Anne Arundel County with 3,865 and Baltimore City with 2,513, according to August 2005 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.
Hispanics ? immigrants and those born in this country ? are driving the population growth, accounting for almost half the nation?s increase last year, more than any other ethnic or racial group.
Some local counties saw the number of Hispanic residents nearly double from 1990 to 2000:
» Sixteen years ago, 7,645 Latinos lived in Baltimore County, compared with 13,418 in 2000, U.S. Census Bureau reports.
» About 6,705 Latinos lived in Anne Arundel County in 1990, compared with 12,054 in 2000.
» In 1990, 2,560Hispanics lived in Harford County, nearly doubling to 5,161 in 2000.
» The Census also shows that in the same 10-year period, Howard County?s Hispanic population increased from 3,745 to 7,573 and Carroll County?s went from 595 to 1,958.
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, fewer than 10 million people in the United States were born in other countries ? that was not even 1 in 20.
Today, there are 36 million immigrants, about 1 in 8.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Hispanic population in Maryland
» 5.4 percent of Maryland?s 5.6 million population
» 3.7 percent of Howard County?s 269,457 population
» 3.3 percent of Anne Arundel County?s 510,878 population
» 2.3 percent of Baltimore County?s 786,113 population
» 2.3 percent of Harford County?s 239,259 population
» 1.7 percent of Baltimore City?s 628,670 population
» 1.4 percent of Carroll County?s 168,541 population
? Source: 2004 U.S. Census Bureau statistics for counties, 2000 statistics for Baltimore City
