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McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX |
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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 | 64,246 | 18.46% | 86,361 | 16.88% |
| Spanish | 282,050 | 81.02% | 421,110 | 82.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,127 | 0.32% | 1,832 | 0.36% |
| Asian Language** | 571 | 0.16% | 2,131 | 0.42% |
| Other | 113 | 0.03% | 209 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 348,107 | 100.00% | 511,643 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 195,429 | 46.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 468 | 25.55% |
| Asian Language** | 805 | 37.78% |
| Other Language | 119 | 56.94% |
| Total | 196,821 | 38.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 150,529 | 53.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 266 | 23.60% |
| Asian Language** | 244 | 42.73% |
| Other Language | 13 | 11.50% |
| Total | 151,052 | 43.39% |
* "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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