Indian Census Count Totals 1.21 billion

The provisional results of the 2011 Census of India have just been released, and they show that the population has now reached 1.21 billion. BBC News notes that:

More people now live in India than in the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined.
India launched the 2011 census last year. The exercise costs in the region of 22bn rupees ($490m; £300m). Some 2.7 million officials visited households in about 7,000 towns and 600,000 villages, classifying the population according to gender, religion, education and occupation.

Korean Immigrants Successful in the US

The US Census figures have emphasized the recent growth of the Latino population, while also noting that the Asian population has been increasing almost as quickly, although there are still considerably fewer Asians than Hispanics in the US. BBC News has a story about the rather amazing success of the Korean immigrant population, fueled by classic patterns of chain migration, a strong sense of community, and hard work.

Like other immigrants before them, Koreans supported each other, often pooling money to provide no interest loans to help the newest immigrants start their businesses.

John Kim, of the Korean Produce Association in New York, whose parents immigrated and opened a sweet shop when he was a boy, recounts a common adage describing how important it was for new immigrants to know someone before arriving in a new country.

"As a new immigrant, the saying goes, 'Whoever picks you up form the airport, whatever business they are in is what you will go into'."

Like other immigrants before them, Koreans supported each other, often pooling money to provide no interest loans to help the newest immigrants start their businesses.

John Kim, of the Korean Produce Association in New York, whose parents immigrated and opened a sweet shop when he was a boy, recounts a common adage describing how important it was for new immigrants to know someone before arriving in a new country.

"As a new immigrant, the saying goes, 'Whoever picks you up form the airport, whatever business they are in is what you will go into'."

The BBC story is rich in individual detail, whereas for overall statistics you can go to the Migration Policy Institute's website.

Russian Census Results Confirm Population Decline

Results of the 2010 Census of the Russian Federation have just been released and, according to the report from the New York Times, they confirm that the population of Russia is in decline.

A census carried out in October 2010 showed that the population had fallen to 142.9 million, from 145.2 million in 2002, when the previous census was taken, and from 146.3 million in 2001, according to Russia’s Federal Statistics Service. Russia is expected to lose an estimated one million workers every year until 2017.

Assuming that Russians are generally not happy about this demographic decline, the only "good" news might be that the decline was less than demographers at the UN Population Division had expected. Their projections, completed in 2008, suggested that Russia would be down to 140.4 million by 2010.

Non-Hispanic Whites Are Now a Minority in the New York Area

The recently released results of the US 2010 Census highlighted the growth nationally of the Hispanic and Asian populations.

More than half of the growth in the total U.S. population between 2000 and 2010 was because of the increase in the Hispanic population. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, rising from 35.3 million in 2000 to 50.5 million in 2010. The rise in the Hispanic population accounted for more than half of the 27.3 million increase in the total U.S. population. By 2010, Hispanics comprised 16 percent of the total U.S. population of 308.7 million.

The non-Hispanic population grew relatively slower over the decade at about 5 percent. Within the non-Hispanic population, the number of people who reported their race as white alone grew even slower (1 percent). While the non-Hispanic white alone population increased numerically from 194.6 million to 196.8 million over the 10-year period, its proportion of the total population declined from 69 percent to 64 percent.

The 23 county area around New York City became the first region outside of the West or South to transition to a situation where non-Hispanic whites have become the minority.

In 2000, the census found that non-Hispanic whites made up 54.3 percent of the area’s population. By 2010, their share had declined to 49.6 percent.

In every county except Manhattan and Brooklyn, the population of non-Hispanic whites decreased.

The black population decreased in every borough except Staten Island and in the counties closest to the city, and increased slightly in the suburbs. The number of Asian residents increased in every county in the metropolitan area, while the Hispanic population rose in every county except Manhattan.

Plato, Missouri is the New Population Center of the US

Now that the Census Bureau has released all of the redistricting data from the 2010 Census, we know that the population center of the country has continued its movement to the west and south, now centered on the tiny town of Plato, Missouri. It has been moving measurably west ever since the second census in 1800 and its shift to west by southwest has been in play since the beginning of the twentieth century. The center has been in Missouri since 1980 and, at its current pace, will probably still be in Missouri after the 2020 census.

Based on current U.S. growth, which is occurring mostly in the South and West, the population center is expected to cross into Arkansas or Oklahoma by the middle of this century.

The last time the U.S. center fell outside the Midwest was 1850, in the eastern territory now known as West Virginia. Its later move to the Midwest bolstered the region as the nation's heartland in the 20th century, central to farming and manufacturing.

Actually, that's not quite an accurate statement. If the population had been growing rapidly along the Pacific Coast, but not at all in the midwest, the population center would still have been in the middle of the country. 

But Plato, about 170 miles southwest of St. Louis, doesn't reflect the population changes that have brought it special attention. The town and its surroundings have few blacks and even fewer Hispanics, though there are more minorities in three or four larger cities about 20 to 30 miles away.