The US population today is about 310 million people. This is the third largest in the world, after China and India (1.33 billion and 1.18 billion people, respectively). And the history of the formation of the composition of the population of this country can be classified as rather sad.
The fact is that during the development of these lands by the European race, a large number of the indigenous population - the Indians - died. It is assumed that on the American continent, as a result of hostilities, disease and physical extermination, many millions of representatives of various Indian peoples could die.
Specialists believe that before the European invasion of America, the number of Indians could reach 20 or even 40 million. In Spanish possessions, about 15 million indigenous people were destroyed because they refused to work on plantations. In the course of the development of farms, the settlers needed new lands, as a result of which the tribes of hunter Indians were actively oppressed and resettled. Indian populationThe population on the continent recovered to that which was in pre-Columbian America only in the 50s of the 20th century. There are about 200,000 Indians living in the United States today, mostly on reservations. It is interesting to note that the population that once owned all of America is today not particularly allowed to political and social activities in this country.
In the 16th century, the population of the United States was actively replenished with blacks - slaves, who were brought in large numbers to this country and neighboring territories for more than three centuries. Today they make up about 15% of the population and include African Americans and mulattoes.
After the Civil War, which resulted in the abolition of slavery, the US population began to increase due to immigrants from Asia and Europe. However, this process slowed down in the 20th century due to several world wars. It is assumed that today the majority of the population is made up of those whose ancestors came from the Old World, Australia, Canada, in second place are representatives of the African American direction, in the third place are Asians, in the fourth place are the Indians, in the fifth place are the peoples of the islands located in the Pacific Ocean. The rating is completed by other peoples and races, whose share in the total population is about 1.7 percent.
Note that the US population is an approximate value, as well as its composition, because, for example, in this state there are about 5 million unemployed people who move around the country and are not always subject to accounting. Moreover, it is impossible to accuratelyclaim that the "white population" is 80%, as indicated in official statistics, because Active, including illegal, migration from Latin America and other regions is underway in the United States.
The United States, with a population of more than a third of a billion, has an impressive proportion of people in its population who were not born on the territory of this state. As of the mid-10s of the 21st century (2005), their share is about 10 percent, of which eleven million people were born in Mexico, about five million were born in Europe, and about 1.5 million were born in India or China. The US population is growing at an estimated 0.9% per year, driven primarily by Hispanics and African Americans.
