Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/811

UNITED STATES. from both the North and the South. As the West became well settled the westward movement grew less important; whereas in 1880 11 per cent. of the population of the Central States were born in the Atlantic Coast States, in 1900 only 6 per cent. of the population in the former group of States were born in the latter group. Again, in 1880 13.0 per cent. of the population of the Western division of States were born in the Atlantic States; in 1900 the corresponding per cent. was only 9.5. The absolute number, however, had increased during the period. The increase was much more marked in the percentage of the Central States population which the Western division of States contained. The rate increased from 17.5 per cent. of the population in 1880 to 24.0 per cent. in 1900. In the latter year there were 954,974 whites and 336,879 negroes born in the Southern States who lived in the North and 1,021,450 persons born in the North who lived in the South. New York and Ohio have each experienced a net loss of between six and seven hundred thousand by interstate migration of native born. Texas has made a net gain of 629,000.

. See.

. From 1875 to 1900 there developed a marked tendency for the population of the United States to segregate in cities. Better transportation and communication facilities have enabled trade to concentrate in the large centres, and the development of an extensive factory system has also tended in the same direction. At the same time the greater use of farm machinery has reduced the amount of labor necessary on the farm. The following table shows the absolute and relative increase in the different classes of urban and rural population. It is noteworthy that while the percentage of increase of the urban population was almost as great in the decade 1890-1900 as in the preceding decade, there was in every class of cities but one (the group 4000 to 8000) a very much less percentage of gain in the latter of the two decades:

The North Atlantic and the North Central States contain the great majority of the urban population. In 1900 the North Atlantic States had 16 and the North Central States 14 of the 38 cities having over 100,000 inhabitants each, while the former division had 54 and the latter 35 of the 122 cities with a population between 25,000 and 100,000.

The following table shows the population of cities having over 100,000 inhabitants in 1900, for the census years 1860, 1890, and 1900:

. There were in 1900 25.6 persons to the square mile in the United States, as against about 600 persons in England, 270 persons in Germany, and about 53 persons in European Russia. The average density of population in the United States is greatly reduced because of the vast uninhabited areas in the western half of its territory. In some sections, such as Massachusetts or New Jersey, the density compares favorably with that of Western European countries, as shown in the following table: 