THE NATIVE AND FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION. 759 



tries or the children of people so "born. 

 It is impossible to go further back 

 than one generation in this calcula- 

 tion ; but in all probability, when the 

 facts are known, we shall find that at 

 least one half of the inhabitants of this 

 country at the present time were either 

 born abroad or are the children or 

 grandchildren of persons born abroad, 

 while one third, instead of one fifth, 

 have for their mother - tongue some 

 other language than the English. Fu- 

 ture bulletins will enable us to under- 

 stand this feature of the nativity of 

 the population more clearly. 



The first of the preceding tables has 

 been constructed from those given in 

 the bulletin named ; which, however, 

 did not give the percentages stated. It 

 shows the total population in the 

 United States, June 1, 1890, separated 

 as to native and foreign-born, and the 

 percentage of each of the total popula- 

 tion ; the second table gives like facts 

 for 1880. (In the first table I have fol- 

 lowed the form now in use at the Cen- 

 sus Office, giving the States by divis- 

 ions ; while in the second table, for 1880, 

 the States are alphabetically arranged.) 



The State having the greatest pro- 

 portion of foreign-born is North Dako- 

 ta, where that element constitutes 44*0 

 per cent of the total population. In 

 1880 the State having the highest per- 

 centage of foreign-born was Nevada, 

 it being then 41 '2. Nevada now has 

 32*1 per cent. The State having the 

 lowest percentage in 1880 was North 

 Carolina, it then being *27 per cent, 

 and North Carolina still has the lowest 

 percentage of foreign-born, it being 

 but *2 of 1 per cent in 1890. Of the 

 population of the whole country 14*8 

 per cent are foreign-born. The facts 

 are given for the different census years 

 in the adjoining table. 



