People walking down a street in New York.Mark Lennihan / AP
For the first time since 1790 the white population has declined in the United States.
Its weight has fallen by 8.6% in the last decade to 57.8% (204.3 million, almost a million less than in 2010), according to the data published this Thursday by the 2020 census. Identifying themselves as African American, Latino, Asian or Mestizo have increased in the country with the most diverse demographics in its history, which is especially reflected among those under 18 years of age.
The figures also reveal the strength of large cities and the flight of inhabitants from rural areas: more than half of the counties have reduced their population compared to 2010. State governments will use this data to redraw electoral maps, which may impact for the first time in the mid-term legislative elections in November next year.
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Conservative fiefdoms of southern U.S. expand in 2020 census
This is how the United States identifies whites, blacks and Hispanics
The population of the United States has grown by 7.4% since 2010 (year of the last census), standing at 331,449,281, according to the first data advanced as early as April.
It is the lowest population growth since the Great Depression in 1930 and the second lowest in US history.
Virtually all of the growth in the US population occurs in non-white communities. Hispanics or Latinos account for 18.7% (62.1 million), an increase of 16.3% since the 2010 census. Estimates indicate that they represent half of the country's growth in the last decade. The African-American community grew by 5.6% in the same period and the Asian by 35%. As the white population ages, groups of different ethnicities gain weight with the incorporation of more young people. 36% of adults are not white, compared to 25% a decade ago and 47% of those under 18 are no longer white, up from 35% in 2010.
The labels of racial minority and majority are increasingly diffuse in the current context.
The Census Bureau decided to remove those terms this time around because many people may not identify with certain population groups, even though federal guidelines classify them into those categories.
In this year's survey, a new set of metrics was used to determine diversity.
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Figures show immigration continues south and southwest, and population losses in Mississippi and the Appalachian Range region — from Pennsylvania to northern Mississippi through West Virginia and Kentucky. In previous censuses it was clear that the population increase was driven by immigration, but now that is only one of the factors. Over the past decade, the influx of foreigners slowed, while the birth rate for Hispanic and Asian women rose and fell among whites.
The new data reveals which counties, cities and neighborhoods gained or lost population.
The five largest cities in the country are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix.
But the figures also augur a greater political weight for the southern states of the country.
Conservative fiefdoms such as Texas, North Carolina or Florida - a pendulum territory between Republicans and Democrats - will increase their seats in Congress in the next legislative elections due to an increase in their population in the last 10 years.
When its number of representatives increases in one State, it decreases in others.
Among those losing a seat are New York and California, both deeply Democratic.
Political battle
Figures from the new census released Thursday will be used by state legislatures or independent panels to redraw electoral maps. The official goal is to ensure that each district has roughly the same number of population and to ensure the representativeness of what has hitherto been understood as racial minorities. But on the political scene, the so-called
gerrymandering
prevails
: a technique used by the parties to change the boundaries of the districts in order to group segments of loyal voters in a way that facilitates the majority of one formation over another.
Currently, the House of Representatives is controlled by the Democrats by a narrow margin: 220 seats to 212 Republicans.
Mid-term legislative elections will be held in November next year, where control of Congress could be decided on the new map emerged from the census.
With the figures released this Thursday, a tough battle to redraw the constituencies is expected to begin.
The strengthening of large cities and suburban areas, in contrast to rural areas - 52% of counties have experienced a drop in population - may, in principle, favor Democrats.
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