Who We Are
The 2020 U.S. Census identified Hispanics/Latinos to be the fastest growing and diverse population in the United States with 62.1 million people who identified as Hispanic or Latino.
Since 1790, the U.S. Census has been gathering population data as required by the U.S. Constitution. Originally, the purpose of the data was to determine the number of representatives each state is entitled to in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau began adding ethnic identifiers to its decennial census survey (every ten years on April 1) to more accurately count residents of Hispanic/Spanish origin. These include Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latino American residents of the USA. In 1990, the U.S. Census questionnaire added more identifiers, among them Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, and Spaniard. In 2000, the Census added “Latino” as an optional ethnic identifier. According to a growing number of demographers, U.S. Hispanic/Latino growth continued its meteoric growth rate from 1990 to 2000. It was driven by domestic birth rates and immigration from its North American neighbor Mexico, as well as Central and South America, and the Caribbean Island nations. In California, and San Diego specifically, the majority of Latinos are mainly of Mexican heritage. Latinos/Hispanics in the U.S. are rapidly becoming a blended community of bilingual (English/Spanish) multinationals from throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Census data shows they represent 18.7% of the total population, the second largest racial or ethnic group in the U.S. after non-Hispanic whites.
People of Mexican heritage were the largest subgroup at 61.6% among the Hispanic/Latino population group.
San Diego County Latino Population More than 1.4 million, about 35% of the total population
88.5% Mexican 2.6% Puerto Rican 1.8% Guatemalan 0.9% Cuban 0.9% Columbian 0.8% Salvadoran 0.5% Peruvian
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 6 – Perseverance
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