8.3 million Americans are of French descent
LE MONDE | 05.07.04 | 16h47
Washington de notre correspondant
The citizens of the United States consider themselves often as American and, at the same time, as something else. Since 1980, the Census Bureau has included, in its questionaire, a question of "descent or ethnic origin". In 2000, four fifths of the population responded to that question, a jump in the proportion. The vast majority of the 281 million inhabitants of the United States---- the official figure, which does not include illegal immigrants, which are estimated to be between 6 and 8 million--- stated their origin or descent, simple in the case of 58%, mixed in the case of 22%.
The dominant part is European, with a very strong proportion of persons claiming German origin. The number diminished by 15 million in ten years, but Americans of German descent remain the most numerous ethnic group, with 42.8 million members. They take the lead in 23 states out of 50, with all of the Middle West and most of those in the West, to which one should add Pennsylvania in the East, and Florida in the South. The magnitude of German migration to the American colonies in the 18th century and the United States in 19th and 20th centuries was such that some asked, in the first decades of the Union, if the official language should be English or German.
Americans who indicate an Irish origin are the second largest group, with 30.5 million persons, followed by those who give their origin as Afro- American (24.9 million) or English (24.5 million). 8.3 million Americans who are of French descent come in at the ninth rank. They are concentrated in the Northeastern states, notably Maine and Vermont, as well as Louisiana.
Audrey Singer, demographer at the Brookings Institution, observes that all European categories are shrinking, between 1990 and 2000. It is in these that the aging of the population is felt all the more, whereas the most dynamic demographic groups are those are Latino and Asian descent.
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