At 10:46 a.m. Pacific Time on the 17th of October, 2006 the US population will reach the 300 million mark or so predict the US Census Bureau. They, however, cannot say whether the 300 millionth citizen would be a newborn or an immigrant or in which part of the country would add that magic figure to the country's population.
Statistics reveal that there is a birth every 7 seconds in America, a death every 13 seconds and every 31 seconds an immigrant arrives here. So the final calculation causes the population clock to tick every 11 seconds.
America had reached 100 million citizens in 1915 and 200 million on November 20, 1967. The first landmark had been heralded as the coming of age of a nation and the second as the stamp of authority of a mighty nation. In tune to that there had been celebrations in 1967 with even the then President Lyndon Johnson being part of it. The 200 millionth baby, Robert Ken Woo Jr., had had his share of five minutes of fame.
But this time around the reactions to another milestone are mixed. Some still see it as a reason to celebrate; others feel some retrospection and action is needed about this increase in rate of population growth. Considering that it took 139 years for the first million, 52 years for the second and only 39 years for the third the concern seems justified. America is now the third most populous country behind China (1.3 billion) and India (1.2 billion).
Immigration has been considered the major reason for population growth. Also the birth rate among immigrants is higher than the native population. Among the immigrants Hispanics number the most making up 14 per cent of the population when compared to 4 per cent in 1968. A projected census predicts that in 2050 this percentage would have risen to 24 per cent while the white American population would fall from 69 per cent to 50.1 per cent. The Asian population would rise to 8 per cent while the African-Americans would stand at 14 per cent.
As with all things, there are mixed reactions to this population boom. Those who see it as an occasion to celebrate feel it raises America's status as an immigrant nation and proves the attractiveness of its economy and policies. Also the increase in the diversity of the population has created a more tolerant society causing a major shift in public attitudes.
While those on the opposite side feel that the growth in population has already caused and will cause a lot of shortages in terms of resources like water, farmland, fuel and such. Immigration patterns vary in different parts of the country which will cause settlement changes. This would have political repercussions also. But the growing population and resulting resource crunch could also be a wake up call for the government to work toward conservation and also to put curbs on economic development. Time alone will tell what an increased number of Americans can do to the country.
