4th of July by the Numbers -
July 4th Fun Facts!
On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence
was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the
road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of
holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across
the country.
Patriotic Places
There are 30 places nationwide with "liberty"
in their name. The most populous one is Liberty, Missouri (26,232). Iowa
has more of these places than any other state: four (Libertyville, New
Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty).
* Eleven places have "independence"
in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with
113,288 residents.
* Five places adopted the
name "freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest
population among these.
* There is one place named
"patriot" — Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
* And what could be more
fitting than spending the day in a place called "America"? There are five
such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork,
Utah, with 21,941 residents. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet
The Fourth of July Barbecue Cookout
As with many holidays, the 4th of July celebration
includes food, drink and the realization of how fortunate we are as a nation.
More than 66 million Americans have said that
they've taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It's probably
safe to assume a large number of these events took place on the Fourth.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
Although we do not have a fixed menu for the
celebration of the Fourth, you can almost count on traditional favorites
such as hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken, ribs, garden salads, potato salad,
chips and watermelon. Following is a summary of where these foods come
from:
* There's a 1-in-6 chance
the beef on your backyard grill came from Texas. The Lone Star State was
the leader in the production of cattle and calves, accounting for 7.2 billion
pounds of the nation's total production of 42.2 billion pounds last year.
* There's a 1-in-4 chance
your hot dogs and ribs originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State had a total
inventory of 14.9 million hogs and pigs as of March 1, 2003 — about one-fourth
of the nation's total.
* The chicken on your barbecue
grill probably came from one of the top broiler-producing states: Georgia,
Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi. The value of production
in each of these states exceeded $1 billion in 2002. These states combined
for well over half of the nation's broiler production.
* The lettuce in your salad
or on your hamburger probably was grown in California, which accounted
for nearly three-quarters of lettuce production in 2002.
* The fresh tomatoes in
your salad most likely came from Florida or California, which, combined,
produced more than two-thirds of U.S. tomatoes in 2002. The ketchup on
your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted
for 95 percent of processed tomato production last year.
* There's a 1-in-3 chance
the beans in your side dish of baked beans or pork and beans came from
North Dakota, which produced more than one-third of the dry, edible beans
in 2002.
* As to potato salad or
potato chips or fries, Idaho and Washington produced about one-half of
the nation's spuds in 2002.
* For dessert, six states
— California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Indiana — combined to
produce about 80 percent of watermelons last year. http://www.nass.usda.gov/index.asp
Fourth of July Fireworks
$128.8 million was the value of fireworks
imported from China, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imports
($135.6 million) in 2002. U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, amounted
to $13.5 million, with Germany purchasing more than any other single country
($5.0 million). http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
Imports of U.S. Flags
$7.9 million was the dollar value of U.S.
imports of American flags in 2002; more than half of this amount ($5.2
million) was for U.S. flags made in China. This was down from the 2001
dollar value of U.S. flag imports ($51.7 million), but still considerably
higher than the total for 2000 ($747,800). That was the last full year
prior to Sept. 11. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
$646,452 was the dollar value of exports of
U.S. flags in 2002. Japan was the leading customer, purchasing $86,189
worth. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
125,000 was the number of U.S. flags flown
over the U.S. Capitol last year at the request of House and Senate members.
On July 4 alone, 1,200 were flown at our nation's capitol. (From the U.S.
Capitol Flag Room.)
$272 million was the annual dollar value of
shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation's
manufacturers, according to the latest economic census (1997) for which
there is published data.
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3149e.pdf
Coming to America
32.5 million was the number of foreign-born
residents in the United States in 2002; they accounted for 11.5 percent
of the nation's total population. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
In 2006, more than 11.5 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United
States, accounting for 30.7 percent of all US immigrants and one-tenth
of the entire population born in Mexico.
* More than 1-in-3 foreign-born
residents were naturalized U.S. citizens.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
* Six states had estimated
foreign-born populations of 1 million or more: California
(8.8 million),
New York (3.6 million), Florida (2.8 million), Texas (2.4 million), New
Jersey (1.2 million)
and Illinois
(1.2 million).
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html
* Among the foreign-born
population, 52 percent were born in Latin America, 26 percent in Asia,
14
percent
in Europe and the remaining 8 percent in other regions of the world, such
as Africa and
Oceania.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
State Park Lakes & Beaches
66 million was the number of visits in a recent
year to our national parks — a particularly scenic locale for a July 4th
picnic. There were 766 million visits in a recent year to another popular
picnic venue — state parks or recreation areas. Those in California (80
million), Ohio (59 million), New York (56 million), Washington (48 million)
and Illinois (44 million) recorded the highest number of visits.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
You may or may not be able to picnic there,
but a visit to a national historical site is a particularly fitting way
to celebrate our nation's heritage. In a recent year, about 72 million
people flocked to national historical sites and 24 million to national
monuments.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
The British are Coming!
"The British are coming! The British are coming!"
These days, this cry applies to tourists rather than "redcoats." Nearly
5 million tourists from the United Kingdom visited the United States in
a recent year, more than from any other country except Japan.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
$74 billion was the dollar volume of trade
last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the
U.K., our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/ |