Immigration

"About one in three U.S. residents is a minority," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. "To put this into perspective, there are more minorities in this country today than there were people in the United States in 1910. In fact, the minority population in the U.S. is larger than the total population of all but 11 countries."

The population in 1910 was 92.2 million. On Oct. 17, 2006, the Census Bureau reported that the overall population had topped 300 million.

California had a minority population of 20.7 million -- 21 percent of the nation's total. Texas had a minority population of 12.2 million -- 12 percent of the U.S. total.

There were other milestones reached as well during the July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, period: The nation's black population surpassed 40 million, while the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander group reached the 1 million mark.

Hispanic remained the largest minority group, with 44.3 million on July 1, 2006 -- 14.8 percent of the total population. Black was the second-largest minority group, totaling 40.2 million in 2006. They were followed by Asian (14.9 million), American Indian and Alaska Native (4.5 million), and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (1 million). The population of non- Hispanic whites who indicated no other race totaled 198.7 million in 2006.

With a 3.4 percent increase between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, Hispanic was the fastest-growing minority group. Asian was the second fastest- growing minority group, with a 3.2 percent population increase during the 2005-2006 period. The population of non-Hispanic whites who indicated no other race grew by 0.3 percent during the one-year period.

Four states and the District of Columbia are "majority-minority." Hawaii led the nation with a population that was 75 percent minority in 2006, followed by the District of Columbia (68 percent), New Mexico (57 percent), California (57 percent) and Texas (52 percent). No other state had a minority population exceeding 42 percent of the total.

Highlights:

Hispanic

-- Hispanics accounted for almost half (1.4 million) of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.

-- California had the largest Hispanic population of any state as of July 1, 2006 (13.1 million), followed by Texas (8.4 million) and Florida (3.6 million). Texas had the largest numerical increase between 2005 and 2006 (305,000), with California (283,000) and Florida (161,000) following. In New Mexico, Hispanics comprised the highest proportion of the total population (44 percent), with California and Texas (36 percent each) next in line.

-- The Hispanic population in 2006 was much younger, with a median age of 27.4 compared with the population as a whole at 36.4. About a third of the Hispanic population was younger than 18, compared with one-fourth of the total population.

Black

-- The black population increased by 1.3 percent, or 522,000, between 2005 and 2006.

-- New York had the largest black population in 2006 (3.5 million), followed by Florida (3 million) and Texas (2.9 million). Texas had the largest numerical increase between 2005 and 2006 (135,000), with Georgia (101,000) and Florida (86,000) next. In the District of Columbia, the black population comprised the highest percentage (57 percent); Mississippi (37 percent) and Louisiana (32 percent) were next.

-- The black population in 2006 was younger, with a median age of 30.1, compared with the population as a whole at 36.4. About 31 percent of the black population was younger than 18, compared with 25 percent of the total population.

Non-Hispanic White

-- The non-Hispanic, single-race white population, which represented 66 percent of the total population, accounted for less than a fifth (18 percent) of the nation's total population growth.

-- California, New York and Texas had the largest population of this group (15.7 million, 11.7 million and 11.4 million, respectively), but Texas experienced the largest numerical increase (104,000), followed by North Carolina (91,000) and Arizona (78,000). Maine and Vermont had the highest proportion of single-race non-Hispanic whites (96 percent each), followed by West Virginia (94 percent).

-- The non-Hispanic, single-race white population in 2006 was older than the population as a whole: The respective median ages were 40.5 and 36.4. About 21 percent of the population of this group was younger than 18, compared with 25 percent of the total population.