Country study Lecture 3 population of the usa

Population of the USANative Americans in the United States is the phrase

that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental

United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of

which survive as intact political communities. Native Americans have also been known as Indians,

American Indians, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, Colored,First Americans,

Indigenous, Original Americans, Red Indians, Redskins or Red Men.

Old and New World societies.• European colonization of the Americas led to

centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Most of the written historical record about Native Americans was made by Europeans after initial contact. Native Americans lived in hunter/farmer subsistence societies with significantly different value systems than those of the European colonists. The differences in culture between the Native Americans and Europeans, and the shifting alliances among different nations of each culture, led to great misunderstandings and long lasting cultural conflicts.

After the colonies • Estimates of the pre-Columbian population of what today

constitutes the United States of America vary significantly, ranging from 1 million to 18 million.

• After the colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the United States of America, the ideology of Manifest destiny (fate)became integral (essential part)to the American nationalist movement. In the late 18th century, George Washington and Henry Knox conceived of the idea of "civilizing" Native. Americans in preparation of American citizenship Assimilation (accept)(whether voluntary as with the Choctaw,or forced) became a consistent policy through American administrations. In the early decades of the 19th century, Native Americans of the American Deep South were removed from their homelands to accommodate American expansion. By the American Civil War, many Native American nations had been relocated west of the Mississippi River.

Major Native American

• Major Native American resistance took place in the form of "Indian Wars," which were frequent up until the 1890s. Native Americans today have a unique relationship with the United States of America because they can be found as members of nations, tribes, or bands of Native Americans who have sovereignty or independence from the government of the United States. Their societies and cultures still flourish amidst a larger immigrated American populace of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European peoples. Native Americans who were not already U.S. citizens were granted citizenship in 1924 by the Congress of the United States.

Native Americans today

Portrait of Native Americans from various bands, tribes, and nations from across "Indian country."

In 1975 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act was passed, marking the culmination(process) of 15 years of policy changes. Related to Indian activism, the Civil Rights Movement and community development aspects of social programs of the 1960s, the Act recognized the need of Native Americans for self-determination.

It marked the US government's turn away from the policy of

termination, the US government encouraged American Indians' efforts at self government and

determining their futures.

There are 562 federally recognized tribal governments

in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own

government, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal), to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to

license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal

territories.

Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same

limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states

have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money

(this includes paper currency).

Many Native Americans and advocates(a lawyer) of Native American rights point out that the US Federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the US still wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to US law.

True respect for Native American sovereignty, according to such

advocates, would require the United States federal government to deal with Native American peoples in the same

manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the

Bureau(government department) of Indian Affairs.

Medical Doctor.

Charles Eastman was one of the first Native Americans to become a Medical Doctor.

Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who defended his people against the encroachment of the United States on their lands for over 25 years

American Indian or Alaska Native• In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated

that about 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of American Indian or Alaska Native descent. This population is unevenly distributed across the country.Below, all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are listed by the proportion of residents citing American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:

on 2006 estimates:

• Alaska - 13.1% • New Mexico - 9.7% • South Dakota - 8.6% • Oklahoma - 6.8% • Montana - 6.3% • North Dakota - 5.2% • Arizona - 4.5% • Wyoming - 2.2% • Oregon - 1.8% • Washington - 1.5% • Nevada - 1.2% • Idaho - 1.1% • North Carolina - 1.1% • Utah - 1.1%

• Minnesota - 1.0% • Colorado - 0.9% • Kansas - 0.9% • Nebraska - 0.9% • Wisconsin - 0.9% • Arkansas - 0.8% • California - 0.7% • Louisiana - 0.6% • Maine - 0.5% • Michigan - 0.5% • Texas - 0.5% • Alabama - 0.4%

Mississippi - 0.4% Missouri - 0.4% Rhode Island - 0.4% Vermont - 0.4% Florida - 0.3% Delaware - 0.3% Hawaii - 0.3% Iowa - 0.3% New York - 0.3% South Carolina - 0.3% Tennessee - 0.3% Georgia - 0.2% Virginia - 0.2%

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about less than 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent. This population is unevenly distributed across 26 states.Below, are the 26 states that had at least 0.1%. They are listed by the proportion of residents citing Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:

• Hawaii - 8.7 • Utah - 0.7 • Alaska - 0.6 • California - 0.4 • Nevada - 0.4 • Washington - 0.4 • Arizona - 0.2 • Oregon - 0.2 • Alabama - 0.1

Graphic shows USA's population growth

• How did this young country get so big so quickly? Immigration, longevity, a relatively high birth rate and economic stability all have propelled the phenomenal growth. The nation has added 100 million people since 1967 to become the world's third-most populous country after China and India. It's growing faster than any other industrialized nation.

• The biggest driver of growth is immigration — legal and illegal. About 53% of the 100 million extra Americans are recent immigrants or their descendants, according to Jeffrey Passel, demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center. Without them, the USA would have about 250 million people today.

Reason of immigration• The newcomers have transformed an

overwhelmingly white population of largely European descent into a multicultural society that reflects every continent on the globe. Some arrived as war refugees. Most came in search of better opportunities in a country that has strong civil rights and a stable economy. Once here, they had babies, which helped the nation maintain a birthrate that is higher than that of Europe and Japan.

• The USA is alone among industrialized nations in its relatively rapid population increase. The populations in Japan and Russia are expected to shrink almost one-fourth by 2050. Germany, Italy and most European nations are not making enough babies to keep their populations from sliding.

the birthrate• When the U.S. population was at 200 million

in 1967, women had an average of three children and the government expected the population to hit 300 million as early as 1990. By the 1980s, the birthrate had tumbled and government estimates projected that the country wouldn't get there until the 2020s. The flow of immigrants turned those projections on their heads.

Why would a country want more babies?

For industrialized nations, numbers mean economic and cultural power. To remain globally competitive, countries need workers. In addition to injecting innovation in the workplace, the young help meet the needs of the elderly through the taxes they pay,

life expectancy

• The nation is getting older as the oldest boomers turn 60 this year. People also are living longer. Since 1970, life expectancy at birth jumped about seven years to a record 77.9 years. The share of the population age 65 or older grew from 9.9% to 12.4%. The median age is up from 28.1 to 36.2 years.