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Well over 90 % of the present-day Americans, whatever their
origin, were born in the US.
Negro Americans are the nation’s largest distinct minority.
They constitute 11 % of the population. Some 55 % of them live in
the central cities of the metropolitan areas.
The Orientals are concentrated in the Pacific states, notably
California. The aboriginal Indians number about 700 000 .
The population of the United States (about 264 million) is the
third largest in the world, following China and India. Eighty
percent of America's population is white, which includes people of
European, Middle Eastern, and Hispanic origins. Other racial
groups include blacks (12 percent), Asians (3 percent), and Native
Americans (1 percent). Hispanics, who constitute an ethnic
minority and can be of any race, comprise 9 percent of the total
population. Hispanic is an artificial term not always accepted by
members of that diverse group. Most Hispanics, or Latinos, prefer
to be called by their country of origin, for example Mexican
American. The term Hispanic is only used here to identify a group
that consists of many peoples otherwise too diverse to list. Indeed,
all designated minority groups are represented by many smaller
groups with origins in nearly every country around the world.
Primarily due to immigration, Asians are the fastest-growing
minority in the United States.
Although members of any ethnic group can be found anywhere in
the country, the mixture is not the same in every region. For example,
California's population is only 57 percent white, while New
Hampshire's is 98 percent. Hispanics reside mostly in the west and
southwest, while blacks live mostly in the east and southeast. More
than 60 percent of the people in Hawaii are Asians.
Whites more commonly live in rural and suburban areas, while
minorities more often live in urban areas. Nearly 80 percent of all
Americans live in metropolitan areas. American is the term most often
used to describe a citizen or product of the United States, even outside
of the country.
The United States' Human Development Index (0.937) ranks it
second out of 174 countries. Most Americans enjoy access to the
education, adequate health care, and economic prosperity needed to
make choices in their lives. Adjusted for women, the index (0.901)
ranks the United States fifth out of 130 countries.