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Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC |
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LANGUAGE
The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 753,635 | 94.57% | 974,545 | 88.13% |
| Spanish | 14,979 | 1.88% | 72,062 | 6.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,730 | 1.97% | 30,025 | 2.72% |
| Asian Language** | 8,969 | 1.13% | 20,493 | 1.85% |
| Other | 3,609 | 0.45% | 8,687 | 0.79% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 796,922 | 100.00% | 1,105,812 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 44,335 | 61.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,144 | 23.79% |
| Asian Language** | 8,890 | 43.38% |
| Other Language | 2,293 | 26.40% |
| Total | 62,662 | 5.67% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,414 | 36.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,051 | 25.75% |
| Asian Language** | 4,614 | 51.44% |
| Other Language | 929 | 25.74% |
| Total | 15,008 | 1.88% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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