Richmond city
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 |
181,559 |
96.00% |
172,876 |
93.26% |
Spanish |
2,948 |
1.56% |
6,483 |
3.50% |
Other Indo-European* |
3,222 |
1.70% |
3,595 |
1.94% |
Asian Language** |
1,065 |
0.56% |
1,507 |
0.81% |
Other |
330 |
0.17% |
918 |
0.50% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
189,124 |
100.00% |
185,379 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
3,223 |
49.71% |
Other Indo-European* |
1,104 |
30.71% |
Asian Language** |
710 |
47.11% |
Other Language |
182 |
19.83% |
Total |
5,219 |
2.82% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
1,034 |
35.07% |
Other Indo-European* |
685 |
21.26% |
Asian Language** |
578 |
54.27% |
Other Language |
79 |
23.94% |
Total |
2,376 |
1.26% |
* "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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