Massachusetts
Massachusetts had an estimated 2006 population of 6,437,193. An estimated increase of 3,826, or 0.1%, from the prior year and an increase of 88,088, or 1.4%, since the year 2000. This includes an increase since the last census of 149,992 people (499,440 births minus 349,448 deaths) and a decrease from net migration of 89,812 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 200,155 people, and net migration within the country resulted in a loss of 289,967 people. As of 2000, Massachusetts is the third most densely populated U.S. state, with 809.8 per square mile (312.68 per square kilometer), after New Jersey and Rhode Island, and ahead of Connecticut and Maryland.
Massachusetts has seen both population increases and decreases in recent years. For example, while some Bay Staters are leaving, others including Asian, Hispanic and African immigrants, arrive to replace them. Massachusetts in 2004 included 881,400 foreign-born residents.
Most Bay Staters live within a 60 mile radius of the State House on Beacon Hill, often called Greater Boston: the City of Boston, neighboring cities and towns, the North Shore, South Shore, the northern, western, and southern suburbs, and most of southeastern and central Massachusetts. Eastern Massachusetts is more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is primarily rural, save for the cities of Springfield, Chicopee, and Northampton, which serve as centers of population density in the Pioneer Valley of the Connecticut River. The center of population of Massachusetts is located in Middlesex County, in the town of Natick.
Race, ancestry, and language
The five largest reported ancestries in Massachusetts are: Irish (23.5%), Italian (13.5%), French/French Canadian (or Franco-American) (12.9%), English (11.4%), German (5.9%).
Massachusetts is the most Irish state in the country in terms of percentage of total population. Massachusetts also has large communities of people of Finnish and Swedish descent; Armenian, Lebanese descent; and Italian descent. Other influential ethnicities are Greek Americans, Lithuanian Americans and Polish Americans. Massachusetts "Yankees," of colonial English ancestry, still have a strong presence. French Americans are the largest group in parts of western and central Massachusetts. Boston's largest immigrant group is the Haitians. Fall River and New Bedford on the south coast have large populations of Portuguese, Brazilian, and Cape Verdean heritage, all of which are also prevalent in the Brockton area. There is a growing Brazilian population in the Boston area (especially in Framingham) and also an abundant population of Brazilians thrive in Cape Cod especially in Barnstable, Falmouth, and Yarmouth. Lowell, in the northeast of the state, is home to a large Cambodian (Khmer) community, second in the country to the concentration of Cambodians in Long Beach, California. Although many of the Native Americans have intermarried with other ethnic groups (or died in King Philip's War of 1675), the Wampanoag tribe maintains reservations at Aquinnah, at Grafton, on Martha's Vineyard, and at Mashpee on Cape Cod. The Nipmuck maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state. Many Wampanoags and other native people live outside of reservations.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 6.21% of the population aged five and over speak Spanish at home, while 2.68% speak Portuguese, 1.44% French, and 1.00% Italian.
Religion
Massachusetts was founded and settled by Puritans in the 17th century. The descendants of the Puritans belong to many different churches; in the direct line of inheritance are the Congregational/United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist churches. Both of these denominations are noted for their strong support of social justice, civil rights, and moral issues, including strong and early advocacy of abolition of slavery, women's rights, and (after 2000) legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The world headquarters of the Unitarian-Universalist Church is located on Beacon Hill in Boston. Today Protestants make up less than 1/4 of the state's population. Roman Catholics now predominate because of massive immigration from Ireland, Quebec, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. A large Jewish population came to the Boston area 1880–1920. Mary Baker Eddy made the Boston Mother Church of Christian Science the world headquarters. Buddhists, Pagans, Hindus, Seventh-day Adventists, Muslims, and Mormons also can be found. Kripalu and the Insight Meditation Center (Barre) are examples of non-western religious centers in Massachusetts.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives the largest single denominations are the Roman Catholic Church with 3,092,296; the United Church of Christ with 121,826; and the Episcopal Church with 98,963 adherents. Jewish congregations had about 275,000 members.
The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts, according to a 2001 survey, are shown in the table below:
- Outline of Massachusetts
- Index of Massachusetts-related articles
References
Notes
- ^ "Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 2, Section 35: Designation of citizens of commonwealth". The Commonwealth of Massachusetts . http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/2-35.htm . Retrieved 2008-02-29 . : "Bay Staters shall be the official designation of citizens of the commonwealth."
- ^ (formerly 43,969 sq mi (113,880 km 2 ). before Maine became a separate state)
- ^ a b c "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009". United States Census Bureau . http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html . Retrieved 2009-12-23 .
- ^ a b "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005 . http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest . Retrieved November 6, 2006 .
- ^ William Wallace Tooker. Algonquian Names of some Mountains and Hills. 1904.
- ^ This derivation is located in C. Lawrence Bond, Native Names of New England Towns and Villages , privately published, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1991. The pamphlet was never mass produced but it is probably obtainable through the library or bookstores in Topsfield.
- ^ a b Salwen, Bert, 1978. Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period . In "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of "Handbook of North American Indians", ed. William C. Sturtevant, pp. 160–176. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Quoted in: Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America . Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 401
- ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States . Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 270
- ^ "Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary". Freelang.net . http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/ojibwe.html .
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"East Squantum Street (Moswetuset Hummock)".
Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey
. Thomas Crane Public Library. 1986
. http://thomascranelibrary.org/htm/436.htm
. Retrieved 2009-06-24
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