El Paso County
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 |
176,459 |
32.75% |
165,907 |
26.70% |
Spanish |
349,052 |
64.77% |
442,233 |
71.18% |
Other Indo-European* |
8,212 |
1.52% |
7,347 |
1.18% |
Asian Language** |
3,920 |
0.73% |
4,645 |
0.75% |
Other |
1,237 |
0.23% |
1,156 |
0.19% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
538,880 |
100.00% |
621,288 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
198,851 |
44.97% |
Other Indo-European* |
1,867 |
25.41% |
Asian Language** |
2,209 |
47.56% |
Other Language |
348 |
30.10% |
Total |
203,275 |
32.72% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
165,046 |
47.28% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,074 |
25.26% |
Asian Language** |
1,744 |
44.49% |
Other Language |
349 |
28.21% |
Total |
169,213 |
31.40% |
* "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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