"I think it's kind of peculiar and kind of comical that people are shocked that the number of Latinos are going up," said Gregory Salcido, 32, a history teacher at El Rancho High School outside Los Angeles. "No matter where you go, you'll see people my skin shade."
The Golden State added 4.1 million people during the 1990s, more than the individual populations of 26 other states. But the state's 13.8 percent growth rate ranked only 18th nationally.
With 33.9 million people, California is easily the most populous state. Nearly one of every eight Americans is a Californian and the state's booming economy, fueled in part by a huge labor force, is ranked sixth in the world.
California is gaining one congressional seat because of its growth, its smallest delegation increase in 80 years.
The Hispanic population nationally grew by 58 percent to 35.3 million, or about 13 percent of the U.S. population. Nearly one in every three Hispanics nationwide lives in California.
California joins New Mexico, Hawaii and the District of Columbia where non-Hispanic whites are also in the minority.
A 27 percent increase in the Asian population in California was due mostly to immigration, according to the state.
2006-09-07
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