US population passes 300 million people

Washinton, Oct 18: The United States now has a population of more than 300 million people, the US Census Bureau said, although it will not designate the person who broke the historic barrier.

The Census Bureau keeps count of the estimated number of Americans, based on the birth rate, death rate and immigration rate, which means the United States adds another person to its population every 11 seconds.

It estimated that the population hit the 300 million mark at 0746 EDT (1716 IST) -- 39 years after the US population reached 200 million.

''The Census Bureau will not make an effort to identify the 300 millionth person,'' said spokesman Robert Bernstein.

When the population counter topped 200 million in 1967, Life magazine dispatched reporters to various maternity wards and ultimately determined that Robert Woo, a Chinese-American born in the Atlanta area, was the person who passed the mark.

One demographer had said the 300 millionth person would be a Latino boy, since about half of US population growth is due to Hispanics, more boys are born than girls and the population grows more from births than through immigration.

The US population has jumped in the past decade, after taking until 1915 to reach 100 million.

In the time it has taken for the US population to grow to 300 million from 200 million, the world population has jumped to 6.5 billion from 3.5 billion.

Americans now live an average 77.8 years, compared to 70.5 years in 1967. About 85 per cent of the population now has at least a high school education, compared to about 51 per cent in 1967.

Reuters