It’s a small world

I'm often reminded of our small world. I was on a conference call this week with a gentleman from India and he made the statement that India is one of the "largest English-speaking country in the world."

Sure enough, nearly one-fourth of India's population speaks English. India's total population nears 1.1 billion, so about 232 million people there speak English.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, most recent American Community Survey, only 91% of U.S. people 5 and older speak English "very well." That's around 256 million. And, 20% report speaking a language other than English at home.

The Census Bureau goes on to say, "the number of people 5 and older who spoke a language other than English at home has more than doubled in the last three decades and at a pace four times greater than the nation's population growth."

The states of Texas, California and New Mexico have the highest concentration of Spanish-speaking people; while Louisiana and Maine have the highest percentage of people speaking French at home; North Dakota and South Dakota, German; Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Slavic languages; California, New York, Hawaii and Massachusetts, Chinese; and Hawaii, California and New Jersey has the highest percentage of Korean-speaking people.

Our country's demographics are changing, and changing quickly. Census reports that 36.7 million, 12%, were foreign-born last year. And, another 33 million, 11%, were born in the U.S., but have at least one foreign-born parent.

The Census Bureau's 2009 population estimates show that 16% of the nation's population are Hispanic; 13% are African-American alone and 5% are Asian alone.

Go here to download a demographic fact sheet for your store's area.