La Paz, Ariz., Population is Nation’s Oldest County

La Paz County, Ariz. — located on the California border and home to the Colorado River Indian Reservation — has the country’s oldest population, according to U.S. Census Bureau county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin released today. Webb County (Laredo), Texas — on the Mexican border in the southern part of the state — has the country’s youngest population, with children younger than 5 comprising 12.8 percent.

La Paz — with 32 percent of its population 65 or older on July 1, 2007 — led 24 counties with at least one-quarter of their populations 65 or older. Nine of these counties were in Florida, with four in Texas and three in Michigan.

Meanwhile, 302 counties, or nearly one in every 10, are “majority-minority” — meaning the county had a population with more than 50 percent minority residents.

Among the majority-minority counties with a minority population of 1 million or more were Bronx, N.Y.; Miami-Dade, Fla.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Queens, N.Y.; Bexar (San Antonio) and Dallas, Texas; San Bernardino, Calif.; Kings (Brooklyn), N.Y.; Harris (Houston), Texas; Santa Clara (San Jose) and Riverside, Calif.; Cook (Chicago), Ill.; and Orange, Calif.

Los Angeles County had the largest minority population in the country in 2007. At 7 million, or 71 percent of its total, Los Angeles County was home to one in every 14 of the nation’s minority residents. The county’s minority population was higher than the total population of all but 12 states.

Maricopa County, Ariz., gained 79,000 minority residents between 2006 and 2007, to lead the nation. Maricopa (Phoenix is its largest city) now has a minority population of 1.6 million, comprising 41 percent of its total. Its minority population ranks seventh nationally.

Based on total population, Starr County in south Texas had the highest proportion of minorities of all counties, at 98 percent. All but two of the top 10 counties in this category were along or near the Mexican border.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

A new “Advisory” blurb from the U.S. Census with a few statistics about those who might have to deal with Tropical Storm Dolly. Stay safe.

Direct to Report

Source: U.S. Census

LC’s FRD Updates Nigeria Country Profile

23 pages; PDF.

Source: LC FRD

A compilation of resources from InfoPlease.

Source: InfoPlease

A fact-filled overview that could be useful for all audiences. Several illustrations. Good reference desk material.

Direct to article.

Source: PC Magazine

Coming July 26, 2008

On this day [7/26] in 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities in public accommodations, commercial facilities, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.

Direct to Statistics Compilation

Source: U.S. Census

The country profile for Mexico has been updated. The release is available here.
28 pages; PDF.

Source: LC

Midwest Flood Recovery Assistance

The U.S. Department of Labor is assisting in the recovery efforts in the Midwest communities affected by this season’s floods.

Includes information on national emergency grants, employment and benefits, clean-up and recovery.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Health and Safety:

+ Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress: Fact Sheets

+ National Institutes of Health: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets

+ National Cancer Institute Fact Sheets

The NCI fact sheet collection addresses a variety of cancer topics. Fact sheets are frequently updated and revised based on the latest cancer research.

+ ToxFAQs: Frequently Asked Questions About Contaminants Found at Hazardous Waste Sites (Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry)

The ATSDR ToxFAQs™ is a series of summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. Information for this series is excerpted from the ATSDR Toxicological Profiles and Public Health Statements. Each fact sheet serves as a quick and easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.

+ OSHA Fact Sheets

+ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Fact Sheets

+ World Health Organization Fact Sheets

+ USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service Fact Sheets

+ National Safety Council Fact Sheets

+ Facts & Research on the Uninsured (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

—

Science and Technology

+ Fact Sheets From NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)

+ 680 Tree Fact Sheets (University of Florida)

+ Primate Factsheets (Wisconsin National Primate Research Center)

The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center has created this series of factsheets as a starting point to find information about the various primate species. Each PIN Factsheet covers one or more species, including morphology, ecology, behavior, and conservation with range maps, images, and an extensive glossary of terms to illustrate the text.

+ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Species (Endangered Species, Birds, Invasive Species, Pollinators, Image Library, Wildlife Fact Sheets)

+ U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Fact Sheets and Brochures

+ USGS Fact Sheets

+ Planetary Fact Sheets (NASA)

+ Chemicals In the Environment: Pollution Prevention & Toxics Fact Sheets

EPA has developed information summaries on selected chemicals to describe how you might be exposed to these chemicals, how exposure to them might affect you and the environment, what happens to them in the environment, who regulates them, and whom to contact for additional information.

—

Government and Military

+ IRS Fact Sheets 2008

+ Air Force Link: Fact Sheets (aircraft, organizations, space, weapons, etc.

+ Arms Control Association Fact Sheets

Arms Control Association fact sheets provide a brief summary of a treaty or subject. They are intended to give you a snapshot of the most important information on a particular issue. Fact sheets are a good place to begin researching an unfamiliar topic or to review the most important elements of any arms control issue.

—

Libraries and Museums

+ ALA Library Fact Sheets

The ALA Library receives inquiries from librarians across the country and around the world, as well as from the general public, on a wide variety of library topics. We have prepared fact sheets on the most asked-about topics, as noted below.

+ Australian Museum Fact Sheets

Australian Museum fact sheets are produced by Australian Museum scientific staff from Research and Collections, Information Officers from search & discover and staff from Public Programs. All fact sheets are checked for scientific accuracy.

+ National Museum of American History: Media Fact Sheets (fact sheets about specific objects in the collection)

Miscellaneous

+ State Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children (AARP Foundation)

+ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service: State Fact Sheets

State fact sheets provide information on population, employment, income, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, and top commodities, exports, and counties for each state in the United States.

+ National Coalition for the Homeless: Fact Sheets

The National Coalition for the Homeless publishes fact sheets on various aspects of homelessness. Each sheet summarizes facts and issues and contains a list of recommended reading for further research.

+ Fact Sheets and Useful New Zealand Information (from the NZ Embassy in the UK)

—

Consumer

+ FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau: Consumer Publications (Federal Communications Commission)

Facts and stats relating to the holiday.

Including:

+ 2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.

+ Please Pass the Potato Salad
Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. More than half (52 percent) of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2007.

+ $17.3 million
The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks in 2002.

+ $4.7 million
In 2007, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($4.3 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

…and many more

Source: U.S. Census

+ Insurance Information Institute: Research and Analysis (white papers, backgrounders, primers and fact sheets)

+ Drug Abuse and Addiction Media Guide (PDF; National Institute on Drug Abuse)

+ A Scientist’s Guide to Talking with the Media (Union of Concerned Scientists)

+ Psychology Topics (fact sheets — American Psychological Association)

+ Human Genome Project Media Room (lots of fact sheets, etc.)

+ A Media Guide to Disability (Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities)

+ Federal Election Commission: Guide to Researching Public Records

+ National Athletic Trainers Association: Media Guide (PDF)

+ National Weather Service: Information Center

Bookselling this Week from the American Booksellers Association.

Lists:

+ What Books are Going to Be Reviewed Where (U.S.)

+ Authors That Will Be Interviewed on Television (U.S.)

+ Authors That Will Be Interviewed on Radio (U.S.)

Source: ABA