Minnesota
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 |
3,811,700 |
94.38% |
4,201,503 |
91.51% |
Spanish |
42,362 |
1.05% |
132,066 |
2.88% |
Other Indo-European* |
116,226 |
2.88% |
110,644 |
2.41% |
Asian Language** |
47,776 |
1.18% |
103,520 |
2.25% |
Other |
20,797 |
0.51% |
43,758 |
0.95% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
4,038,861 |
100.00% |
4,591,491 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
61,817 |
46.81% |
Other Indo-European* |
30,433 |
27.51% |
Asian Language** |
57,969 |
56.00% |
Other Language |
17,292 |
39.52% |
Total |
167,511 |
3.65% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
14,200 |
33.52% |
Other Indo-European* |
30,363 |
26.12% |
Asian Language** |
30,163 |
63.13% |
Other Language |
4,615 |
22.19% |
Total |
79,341 |
1.96% |
* "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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