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(AP) - Minnesota's black population is growing five
times faster than the nation's black population as a whole,
according to census data released Wednesday.

      Minnesota was ranked 10th in the nation in 2000 in numbers of
African immigrants living in the state. The number grew 85 percent
in six years and is now estimated at between 60,000 and 90,000.

      If children born in Minnesota are included, the state
demographer's office said the number may have doubled since 2000.

      "Minnesota is definitely drawing African immigrants in large
numbers, no doubt about it," said Barbara Ronningen, the
immigration specialist with the state demographer's office. "If
you include children born here, it may have doubled already in this
decade. The share of all Minnesota births that are to Somali
mothers is becoming incredible."

      However, Minnesota ranks only 31st for the percentage of its
residents who are black - with about 228,000 people, or 4.4 percent
- behind states including Kansas and Oklahoma.

      Experts and immigrants agree that Africans are immigrating to
the United States for many of the same reasons that Hmong
immigrants came to the country in the 1980s and 1990s.

      Refugee agencies guide refugees to different regions, trying to
judge which ones might be receptive. Minnesota is one logical
choice because it has one of the nation's smallest minority
populations.

Gallery

More older workers staying on the job

Census survey finds number of state's uninsured holding steady

Population rate could undercut Minnesota's political clout

African immigrants to Minnesota struggle to gain ground

Growing economic success for Hmong community

Minnesota's black population is growing five
times faster than the nation's black population as a whole, largely because of an influx of immigrants from Africa.

Immigrants from Africa swelling Minnesota's black population

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