One-third of U.S. is from minority group

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- About one-third of U.S. residents belong to a group other than single-race non-Hispanic white, the U.S. Census Bureau said in data released Wednesday.

In 2005, the country's total population of 296.4 million included 98 million "minorities." The bureau's director said the figures show the "increasing diversity of our nation's population."

The Census Bureau said that with a population of 42.7 million, Hispanics remain the largest minority group in the United States. That figure from July 1, 2005, is about 3.3 percent larger than the count on July 1, 2004.

There are some 39.7 million African-Americans in the country, followed by Asians (14.4 million), American Indians and Alaska natives (4.5 million) and native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders (990,000). There are some 198.6 million non-Hispanic whites in the United States.

The bureau said Hispanics accounted for 49 percent of the national population growth for the year that ended July 1, 2005. The media age of the Hispanic population was 27.2 years, compared with an overall U.S. average age of 36.2. By comparison, the median age of blacks in the United States was 30.0 years, Asian-Americans 33.2 and non-Hispanic whites 40.3.