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America has long been known as an ethnic "melting pot." Its
current population is 243.4 million, made up of immigrants or their
descendants from virtually every country in the world. It is believed
that the first people to arrive—from Siberia, 10,000 to 20,000 years
ago - were the Native Americans or the American Indians. Today,
about 1.5 million American Indians and Eskimos live in the United
States, many on tribal lands set aside for them in 31 states.
Europe, the major source of U.S. immigration, began sending
colonists to America in the early 17th century, primarily from its
northern and western regions. Immigration peaked in the period from
1880 to 1920, when tens of millions of immigrants entered the United
States, with the largest percentage coming from southern and eastern
Europe.
Black Americans, who today number 29 million, constitute the
largest single ethnic minority in the country. They were first brought
to the New World as slaves in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.
In the 20th century, large numbers of blacks, who historically lived in
the South, migrated to the industrial cities of the North in search of
jobs and a better way of life. Hispanics, living primarily in the
Southwest, are the next largest ethnic minority group in the United
States. Sixty percent are Mexican-Americans, with the remainder
from Central and South America. The Hispanic community is
extremely varied and includes large Puerto Rican populations in many
Eastern cities as well as a growing Cuban-American presence in
Miami, Florida. The U.S. population has also absorbed nearly 3.6
million Asians (from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, the Philippines,
Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia and Thailand). Many Asian
Americans live in Hawaii, where more than two-thirds of the
population claim an Asian or Polynesian heritage.
Once a nation of farmers, the United States has become
increasingly urban since the 20th century. Today, 80 percent of the
population live in or near cities, and only two percent of the
population live on farms. In 2003 the United States counted 26 metro-
politan areas of over one million people and 182 cities with 100,000
or more people.
Since 1930 the suburbs have grown faster than the cities, as mid-
dle-class residents have left the crowded living conditions of most
large cities. Suburbs are defined as residential areas within commuting
distance to large cities. Most people who live in suburbs own their
homes and commute to work in the city, or they work in nearby