At the last official United States census carried out in
2010, the population of California was declared at 37,253,956 which made the
state the most populous in the country by some distance.
However, the vast area that California encompasses (163,696 square miles) means
that in terms of population density, with 232 people for every square mile it
ranks only 11th in the nation. Of course this is also misleading, as 20 percent or so of that area is deserts and mountains. Therefore, the effective population density is as high as 300 people per square mile.
California Population
2014
Based on the recent estimates and growth rate, the 2013
population in California is somehwere around 38,441,387. It is the 19th fastest
growing state with a yearly growth rate of 1.09%.
California Population
Growth
The population of California in 2012 is growing at an
impressive rate and an estimate carried out in June 2011 suggests that there
has been an increase from those 2010 Census figures to numbers in the region of
37,691,912.
In 1850 there were just 92,597 people living here but the
gold rush of the mid 19th century was primarily responsible for a rise of over
300% to 379,994. The population of California continued to grow at a steadier
rate but increases in excess of 50% between ten year censuses were not
uncommon.
After the Second World War, the California Population in
1950 was declared at 10,586,223 and it has been growing exponentially ever since.
Ten years later in 1960 it was 15,717,204 and in 1970 that had grown to
19,953,134. From there, the numbers have been increasing at similar rates.
Influences of
California Population
California has a healthy natural growth rate and the gap
between the birth rate and death rate is quite significant. Between 2000 and
2009, 5,058,440 births and 2,179,958 deaths resulted in a natural growth of
3,090,016.
Another significant factor is immigration: California had
huge appeal in the days of the Gold Rush and that fact holds true today.
Between those years of 2000 and 2009 the state enjoyed a net migration gain of
306,925 people. It’s also estimated that up to 7.3% of California’s population
is made up of illegal aliens.
Putting population in
perspective
The end result when taking all these figures into account is
a population that is simply huge. Based on current estimates, California is
larger than all but 34 countries in the world. It is also the second most
populous national sub-entity, behind Sao Paulo of Brazil.
California
Demographics
Increasing immigration has led to a diverse set of ethnic
groups within California itself and at the 2010 Census, 57.6% of the population
claimed to be white, while 40.1% were non-Hispanic white. 13% were Asian and
6.2% Black. The remaining ethnic groups consisted of Native American, Hispanic,
Latino and others.
Population of
California Projections
California is still growing and although it is difficult to
track down any predictions, there is no reason to suggest that this growth will
slow down. As such, could the population of California continue the trend and explode
beyond the 40 million mark by the time of the next Census in 2020?
http://worldpopulationreview.com