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Mecklenburg County |
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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 | 445,591 | 94.18% | 560,787 | 86.92% |
| Spanish | 9,159 | 1.94% | 45,064 | 6.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,774 | 2.49% | 18,860 | 2.92% |
| Asian Language** | 4,792 | 1.01% | 14,546 | 2.25% |
| Other | 1,817 | 0.38% | 5,930 | 0.92% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 473,133 | 100.00% | 645,187 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 27,528 | 61.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,835 | 30.94% |
| Asian Language** | 8,129 | 55.88% |
| Other Language | 1,834 | 30.93% |
| Total | 43,326 | 6.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,559 | 38.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,406 | 28.93% |
| Asian Language** | 2,780 | 58.01% |
| Other Language | 592 | 32.58% |
| Total | 10,337 | 2.18% |
* "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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