Hispanics fuel US population increase

BBC News:

Hispanics account for about half the current growth rate of the US population, according to new figures released by the US Census Bureau.

Hispanics rose 3.6% to 41.3m in the year to July 2004. Overall, the US population went up 1% to 296m.

In 2003, Hispanics overtook blacks to become the largest US minority group.

The population growth for Asians ran a close second. The rises in both cases are attributed to higher birth rates and immigration.

In the 1990s, Hispanics accounted for 40% of the country's population increase. From 2000 to 2004, that figure grew to 49%.

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