Historical racial and ethnic demographics of the United States

[2][3][4] By 1471, Portuguese navigators hoping to tap the fabled Saharan gold trade had reconnoitered the West African coast as far as the Niger Delta, and traded European commodities for local crafts as well as slaves, the latter which turned out to be highly lucrative.

The black population was non-existent to European regions in 1610, but awareness increased rapidly after 1620 when forced slavery of Africans was implemented building the Atlantic slave trade in the 15th century in colonial areas, Caribbean islands which later became parts of the United States.

[5] From at least 1790 until the start of World War I, the overwhelming majority (around ninety percent) of African Americans[5] lived in the Southern United States.

[5] The Great Migration throughout the 20th century (starting from World War I)[5][6] resulted in more than six million African Americans leaving the Southern U.S. (especially rural areas) and moving to other parts of the United States (especially to urban areas) due to the greater economic/job opportunities, less anti-black violence/lynchings,[8] and a smaller amount of segregation/discrimination there.

[5] The United States historically had few Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans, especially before the late 20th century.

[22] Census 2010 Census 2020 [23] Source:[24] Black population (2000 and 2010) Hispanic or Latino (Estimates) Hispanic population (2000 and 2010) Hispanic or Latino Population by Type of Origin and Race: 2010 Hispanic or Latino 2010–2017 (Estimates) Asian 2000–2017 (Estimates) Asian population (2000 and 2010) Asian population pyramids (Census 2010) American Indian and Alaska Native 2010–2017 (Estimates) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 2010–2017 (Estimates) Immigration to the United States by region and country:[25] Top 10 sending countries: Americas: * Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Paraguay, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands South Asia: East Asia: West/Central Asia and North Africa: * Palestine Southeast Asia: * East Timor Europe: * Croatia, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia (former), Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Montenegro (former), Slovakia, Slovenia Sub-Saharan Africa: * Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, South Sudan Australia and Oceania: * American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna

In contrast, the African American percentage of the total population in other parts of the U.S. (outside of the South) was historically almost always in the single digits (0.0% to 9.9%).

Even after the Great Migration, no or almost no U.S. state outside of the Southern U.S. has ever had an African American percentage of its total population be greater than 16%.

[26]In 1865, all enslaved Blacks (African Americans) in the United States were emancipated as a result of the Thirteenth Amendment.

However, the percentage of the Hispanic/Latino population has dramatically increased in many U.S. states both inside and outside the Southwest in recent decades.