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The combined population of the four minority groups was estimated at 74.9 million in 1998. If all these Americans lived in an independent country, it would be the 15th largest in the world—more populous than Great Britain, France, Italy, or Spain.

For most of this century, the minority population was overwhelmingly African American, and it represented a relatively stable share of the total U.S. population. Between 1900 and 1950, the minority share remained at about 13 percent. The number of minorities surged from just under 10 million to nearly 21 million in the first half of the century. But the non-Hispanic white population grew just as rapidly because of high birth rates and immigration from Europe, which kept the minority share about the same.

Between 1950 and 1998, the minority population more than tripled in size as waves of immigration from non-European countries, higher birth rates among minorities, and a relatively young age structure accelerated the minority growth rates. The non-Hispanic white population grew slowly after 1970 as birth rates fell and immigration from Europe dwindled. Between 1980 and 1998, the minority population increased 63 percent, compared with an 8 percent growth of the non-Hispanic white population. Minorities now comprise one-fourth of the U.S. population.

Asians and Pacific Islanders had the fastest rate of growth during the 1980s and 1990s. The number of non-Hispanic Asians grew 179 percent over the period, and reached 9.9 million. Nearly as many Asians as blacks were added to the population. Hispanics had the greatest numerical increase. Between 1980 and 1998, 15.6 million Hispanics (and just 14.8 million non-Hispanic whites) were added to the U.S. population.

The American Indian and Alaskan Native population has shown a remarkable increase since the 1960s—it grew 255 percent between 1960 and 1990. The increase reflects a tendency among Americans of partial American Indian ancestry to reclaim their American Indian heritage. Improvements in census coverage, immigration, high birth rates, and reductions in mortality can explain just part of that growth—the remainder occurred because people who previously had identified as white, black, or another race switched their racial identity to American Indian. Nearly 570,000 people were added to the American Indian population between 1980 and 1998—an increase of 40 percent.

The African American population is growing more slowly than other minority populations. The number of blacks increased by 25 percent between 1980 and 1998, from 26.1 million to 32.7 million. The number of whites increased even more slowly—at one-third the rate of African Americans—but they remain the predominate racial and ethnic group in numbers as well as in political and economic power. The four minority groups accounted for 66 percent of the 43.8 million people added to the U.S. population between 1980 and 1998.

In 1900, nine of every 10 minorities were African American. In 1998, blacks made up less than one-half of all minorities, and their share is declining. Hispanics, with a 1998 population of 30 million, are the second- largest minority, accounting for 40 percent of U.S. minorities. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that Hispanics will outnumber non-Hispanic blacks by 2005. Asians accounted for 13 percent of minorities in 1998, while American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts made up 3 percent.

The national-origin groups within the Hispanic and Asian populations are growing at different rates, which is changing the mix of cultures, languages, and socioeconomic characteristics of these groups. Interethnic marriage is also increasing, which contributes further to America's ethnic diversity.

African Americans

Most African Americans are descendants of families that have been in the United States for many generations. Increasing numbers of blacks also share ties with immigrant groups from Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere that have differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Immigration is likely to increase the diversity within the African American population. In 1980, about 3 percent of blacks were foreign-born. Many African-origin immigrant groups swelled in size over the past two decades and by 1998, 5 percent of blacks were foreign-born.

The Caribbean is the source of most U.S. immigrants of African descent. In 1998, nearly 3 million Americans were born in the Caribbean, and almost one-half of these immigrants were black. The Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica are among the leading sources of black Caribbean immigrants, including Hispanic blacks.

Immigration from this region continued at a high level throughout the 1990s. Severe political and economic problems in Haiti brought 163,000 Haitian immigrants to the United States between 1990 and 1998. Jamaica sent 168,000 immigrants over the period; about 60,000 entered from Trinidad and Tobago. And, many black Hispanics were among the nearly 350,000 immigrants from the Dominican Republic who arrived between 1990 and 1998. Caribbean immigrants helped the number of black Hispanics to grow from 1.2 million to 1.7 million over the period.

Africa was the source of less than 4 percent of U.S. immigrants between 1981 and 1998, but new migration streams are being formed that suggest the flow from Africa might expand in the future. In 1998, about 560,000 Americans were born in Africa, up from 360,000 in 1990 and from just 60,000 in 1970.

Some African immigrants identify as white, in particular those from North Africa, but an increasing share are blacks from sub-Saharan countries. In 1990, 55,000 foreign-born Americans were from Nigeria and 35,000 were from Ethiopia. Ghana, Kenya, and Morocco were other major source countries for African immigrants.

New population estimates for African immigrant groups will not be available until after the 2000 census, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reports that nearly 250,000 immigrants came from African countries between 1990 and 1998; about 54,000 came from Nigeria and 41,000 from Ethiopia.

Hispanics

The nation's Hispanic population primarily includes people who can trace their ancestry to Spanish-speaking countries throughout Latin America. The Census Bureau publishes data for at least four Hispanic groups: Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and an "other Hispanics" category. In 1997, there were 18.7 million Mexican Americans, 3.1 million Puerto Ricans (living on the U.S. mainland), 1.3 million Cubans, and 6.4 million Hispanics from other areas. Salvadorans, Colombians, and Dominicans led the "other Hispanics" group in the 1990 census, the most recent source of counts for these groups. The "other Hispanics" category has seen remarkable growth in the last two decades—the number more than doubled between 1980 and 1997. Central Americans and South Americans is becoming a larger share of the U.S. Hispanic population as immigrant streams from Latin America expand and diversify. Central and South Americans accounted for 14 percent of all U.S. Hispanics in 1997, up from 11 percent in 1990. The Mexican-origin population remains the largest group and continues to expand. The Mexican share of U.S. Latinos rose from 59 percent to 64 percent between 1980 and 1997.

Asians and Pacific Islanders

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