Alaska
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 |
435,260 |
87.86% |
496,982 |
85.72% |
Spanish |
10,020 |
2.02% |
16,674 |
2.88% |
Other Indo-European* |
9,859 |
1.99% |
12,851 |
2.22% |
Asian Language** |
12,690 |
2.56% |
22,186 |
3.83% |
Other |
27,596 |
5.57% |
31,047 |
5.36% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
495,425 |
100.00% |
579,740 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
5,801 |
34.79% |
Other Indo-European* |
3,667 |
28.53% |
Asian Language** |
11,659 |
52.55% |
Other Language |
9,715 |
31.29% |
Total |
30,842 |
5.32% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
3,234 |
32.28% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,560 |
25.97% |
Asian Language** |
6,447 |
50.80% |
Other Language |
10,239 |
37.10% |
Total |
22,480 |
4.54% |
* "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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