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Population Boom!

Our nation is growing quickly. There is a new American every 11 seconds! Last Tuesday at 7:46 a.m., the official number of people in the United States reached 300 million.

The U.S. Census Bureau counts the nation's population. It is not an easy job. Every 10, years the Census Bureau does an official count. In other years, the Census uses a special math formula to count the people.

Some say that the formula does not include all of the people who live in the U.S. They believe the population reached 300 million earlier than last week. But "we are confident that we're somewhat close," says Howard Hogan, of the Census Bureau.

My, How We've Grown
The U.S. population has exploded in recent years. There will likely be 400 million Americans in the year 2043. Many of these new Americans will have come from other countries.

Only China and India have more people than the U.S. As America grows, the world grows too. More people must share food, water and space. People are thinking about ways to make life better for everyone on the planet.

In 1915, there were 100 million Americans. In 1967, there were 200 million. This year, we hit 300 million. Take a look at the charts to see how the U.S. has grown and changed.

Here We Grow!
Many people born in other countries are becoming American citizens. Experts say the numbers will climb.

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