The US population, which is set to hit the 300-million mark in October, is one third minorities, with one in three people either Hispanic, black, Asian or, less often, indigenous Native Americans.
Minorities account for 33 percent (98 million) of the population, according to US Census Bureau figures from 2005, when the US population stood at 296.4 million people.
Immigrants for their part represent 12.4 percent of the population, or 35.7 million people, compared to 2000 when they made up 11.2 percent of the population.
Minorities are set to increase in number in coming years thanks to immigration but also to the higher birth-rate among these populations who are generally younger than white non-Hispanics.
Already, nearly half of American children under the age of five are from a minority group.
Hispanics in the United States have outgrown the number of blacks in the country in recent years and account for 14 percent (42.7 million) of the population.
The average age among the Hispanic population is 27 as opposed to 36 for the average American. One third of Hispanics are under the age of 18. And they are the fastest growing segment of the population -- 3.3 percent between 2004-2005, or 1.3 million more, in large part due to births (800,000) followed by immigration (500,000).
At this rate, Hispanics are expected to represent 25 percent of the US population, or 102.6 million people, by 2050, according to the Census Bureau.
The majority are of Mexican origin or descent (64 percent); and the greatest numbers live in the western state of California (12.4 million) and in Texas (7.8 million).
Blacks, or African-Americans, are the second largest minority with 39.7 million people, followed by Asians (14.4 million), indigenous Native Americans and Alaska natives (4.5 million) and finally native of Hawaii and islands in the Pacific (990,000).
Of the three largest minorities, the black population is growing the least -- 1.3 percent, or 496,000 people in 2005. A small portion of that figure, one fifth, accounts for new immigrants from African countries or the Caribbean.
The number of Asians in the country is growing and accounts for five percent (14.4 million) of the US population. That minority is growing at an annual rate of three percent, mainly because of immigration (239,000) and births (182,000).
Non-Hispanic whites still represent the majority of Americans -- 198.4 million -- but their numbers are shrinking. According to census figures, non-Hispanic whites represented 66.8 percent of the population in 2005 as opposed to 2000 when they made up nearly 70 percent of the population.
Whites are also the minority in four states, California, Texas, New Mexico and Hawaii, and also in the US federal capital.