"Growth and Future of Cities" and "The Nation's Minorities" are units eight and nine, respectively from the fourteen-units series Population Profiles. The former initiates its consideration of our urban future with two divergent points of view on population distribution. Those views are brought into perspective by an historical investigation of…

By 1985, fertility rates in Europe were below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman in all but Albania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and Turkey, following a steady decline from a 1965 postwar peak well above 2.5 in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe and an erratic trend from a lower level in Eastern Europe. Natural decrease (fewer births…

Issues surrounding a recent voting rights case in Los Angeles (California) are discussed and evaluated in this introduction to the remainder of this special issue. The most important issues are geographical compactness, political cohesiveness, and racial voting blocs. (SLD)

Presents lessons on geographic concepts concerning migration and population change. Suggests student analysis of census data. Focuses on the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants through concepts of assimilation, discrimination, and time decay. Observes that Hispanics, the oldest U.S. immigrant group, are presently viewed as the newest. Examines…

How technical demographic analysis can inform and confuse judicial considerations of voting rights principles is illustrated in a review of a 1990 case brought against Los Angeles County (California). A postscripted article considers whether the court involved should rely on after-census estimates for redistricting. (SLD)

Traces the settlement and demographic patterns of Hispanic Americans in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Although originally concentrated in the southwest, Hispanics began migrating northward into some northeastern areas after World War II. Includes maps and tables detailing these demographics. (MJP)

This paper describes and analyzes the demographic characteristics of the Pre-Mariel Cuban American population living in the United States as presented in the 1980 U.S. Census of the Population. Information is not provided for the Mariel entrants, who began arriving from Cuba on April 21, 1980, because the data were derived from a one-in-a-thousand…