Arlington 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 |
120,906 |
74.78% |
119,812 |
66.91% |
Spanish |
20,650 |
12.77% |
32,213 |
17.99% |
Other Indo-European* |
8,816 |
5.45% |
11,920 |
6.66% |
Asian Language** |
8,024 |
4.96% |
9,553 |
5.33% |
Other |
3,290 |
2.03% |
5,566 |
3.11% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
161,686 |
100.00% |
179,064 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
19,277 |
59.84% |
Other Indo-European* |
3,817 |
32.02% |
Asian Language** |
4,623 |
48.39% |
Other Language |
2,076 |
37.30% |
Total |
29,793 |
16.64% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
12,599 |
61.01% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,498 |
28.33% |
Asian Language** |
4,202 |
52.37% |
Other Language |
1,213 |
36.87% |
Total |
20,512 |
12.69% |
* "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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