On January 1, 2010 an estimated 12.6 million LPRs (no unauthorized immigrants included) lived in the U.S. Of these about 8.1 million were eligible to naturalize. 26% of the LPR population in 2010 came from Mexico which made this country the number one country of origin of LPRs, followed by the Philippines, China, India, and the Dominican Republic.
Top 10 countries of birth of the LPR Population in 2010 (bpb) Lizenz: cc by-nc-nd/2.0/de
Top 10 countries of birth of the LPR Population in 2010 (bpb) Lizenz: cc by-nc-nd/2.0/de
In recent years, the immigrant population in the U.S. has risen significantly from an estimated 19.8 million foreign-born persons in 1990 to 31 million in 2000 and nearly 40 million in 2010, now constituting 13 percent of the total population. The majority of the foreign-born population (as of 2010) was born in Latin America (53%). 28% were born in Asia, 12% in Europe, 4% in Africa, 2% in Northern America, and less than 1 percent in Oceania. Of the 21.2 million foreign born residents from Latin America, 11.7 million (55%) were born in Mexico. Mexico thus represented the main country of birth of foreign born residents in the U.S. - 29% of the total foreign-born population were born there.
Over half of the foreign-born population in 2010 resided in just four states (California, New York, Texas, and Florida). While in some states the share of foreign-born residents in the total population is very low - such as in West Virginia (1% of total population) – other states have a high percentage of foreign-born people living on their territory (e.g. California – 27% of the total population; New York – 22%, New Jersey – 21%). About 2 in 5 foreign-born residents were naturalized citizens.
So called "ethnic minorities" have significant impact with regard to the population structure in the U.S.A. Due to immigration and births, ethnic minority groups – especially Hispanics - are growing more rapidly than the non-Hispanic white population of the country. In May 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau announced that for the first time in the country's history, minorities (anyone who is not a single-race non-Hispanic white) constituted the majority (50.4%) of the U.S. population younger than age 1. Projections of the Pew Hispanic Center say that non-Hispanic whites will become a minority of the population (47%) by 2050.
