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Birmingham, AL |
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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 | 757,231 | 96.95% | 821,254 | 95.55% |
| Spanish | 8,076 | 1.03% | 21,277 | 2.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,252 | 1.44% | 9,992 | 1.16% |
| Asian Language** | 2,828 | 0.36% | 4,470 | 0.52% |
| Other | 1,679 | 0.21% | 2,470 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 781,066 | 100.00% | 859,463 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,849 | 46.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,662 | 26.64% |
| Asian Language** | 2,003 | 44.81% |
| Other Language | 435 | 17.61% |
| Total | 14,949 | 1.74% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,441 | 30.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,173 | 28.20% |
| Asian Language** | 1,235 | 43.67% |
| Other Language | 532 | 31.69% |
| Total | 7,381 | 0.94% |
* "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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