Saturday, August 27, 2011

2010 Census: NMI population down 22%

Press Release from mvariety.com (Marianas Variety)

(Office of the Governor)
— The Fitial administration yesterday announced that the U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2010 Census population counts for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The official count on April 1, 2010, indicates that the CNMI’s population was 53,883 or a decrease of 22.2 percent from the 2000 Census population of 69,221.

The population counts were provided to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial by U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.

Percentage wise, Rota represented the largest decrease in its population with a 23 percent drop from 3,283 in 2000 to 2,527 in 2010. Saipan nearly mirrored Rota’s results with a 22.7 percent dip from 62,392 in 2000 to 48,220 in 2010. Meanwhile, Tinian’s head count is down to 3,136 from a head count of 3,540 representing a decrease of 11.4 percent.

A breakdown of Saipan’s population by election district shows an almost equal population for districts 1 and 3. Census data for District 1 indicates a count of 15,160 and 15,624 for District 3. The results for the other districts in Saipan are as follows: District 2 – 6,382; District 4 – 3,847; District 5 – 7,207.

In August of 2010, the CNMI Local Census Office was lauded by the U.S. Census Bureau for being the first insular area to complete its census operations.

The Census Bureau noted that it was grateful to the CNMI government for its hard work, efforts and dedication to ensure that the Census Bureau mandate to successfully conduct and complete the 2010 Census of the CNMI. The 2010 Census sought to establish an updated count of everyone living in the United States and its territories, including the CNMI, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census is conducted every 10 years. The CNMI has participated in the U.S. Census since 1950.

Fitial expressed his appreciation to Director Groves for the timely release of the 2010 Census results as the CNMI will now have a more updated and precise population count for any needed reference.

“I am very much pleased to receive the CNMI’s Census population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau director,” said Fitial. “As I understand it, the more detailed results including the islands’ demographic profile won’t be ready for release until next year. That forthcoming report will be significant as it will show the sets of basic demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics for the commonwealth.”

As part of the 2010 Census, the CNMI worked with the Census Bureau to undertake the arduous effort that sought to enumerate and gather detailed data on population and housing characteristics.

Census data are used to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year, and to help government and community leaders make decisions about what services to provide.

“Once the 2010 CNMI Census results are fully completed and released, the CNMI will be better poised to get its fair share of federal funding opportunities,”. Fitial said. “The 2010 Census will ultimately be a guiding hand as to how opportunities are proportionately distributed to all the states and territories.”

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