What Is The Ethnic Composition Of Arkansas?
Arkansas is a state in the southern region of the US. As of 2017, the 32nd largest state had an estimated population of a little over 3 million people. The census from 2015 placed the population at 2,978,204 which represented a slight increase of about 2.14% from that of 2010. The population density of the state is 51.3 people per square mile.
Ethnic Composition of Arkansas
According to the 2010 census, which showed that the state had a population of 2,915,918, the biggest percentage (77.0%) of it was made up of white Americans. African Americans constitute the second highest percentage of people with 15.4% while Asian Americans only had 1.2%. Native Americans and natives of Alaska contribute about 0.8% while native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders only had 0.2%. There are also other races (3.4%) as well as people who have two or more races (2.0%).
Data from the American Community Survey about the largest ancestry groups in the state have a slightly different look. Of the total number of ancestry groups, African Americans have the highest number with a contribution of 15.5% followed by Irish communities with 13.6%. These communities are followed closely by Germans (12.5%), Americans (11.1%), and English (10.3%). Other minor communities include the French, Dutch, Scotts, Italians, and a few others. The group also found out that about 93.8% of the population aged five years and above spoke only English with only 4.5% communicating in Spanish at home. The combined percentage of populations using other Indo-European languages, Asian languages, and other languages was less than 2%.
Religion
Being a part of the Bible Belt, it is no surprise that 86.0% of the population of Arkansas is Christian with Protestants making up the largest group (78.0%). Those who do not follow any religion make up 14% of the population while the Jewish and Muslim religions each have a following of less than 1%.
