Text Box:   In 1900, only 500,000 Latinos lived in the United States; today, more than 40 million. Hispanics have become the number one minority in this country. Newsweek May 30, 2005:28.  

 

               

Text Box: Language Facts:   1.      Spanish is spoken by approximately 377,600,000 people all over the world. 2.    There are twenty-five countries in the world who speak Spanish either as an official language or as a primary language. 3.    The U.S. is the third larges Spanish speaking country in the world. According to the 1990 Census Bureau, Spanish is the language most often spoken at home after English. It comes ahead of German, Chinese, Italian, and French. 4.    The 1990 Census Bureau reported more than 100,000 Hispanics living in North Carolina. Numbers are estimated to have doubled since that time. 5.    There are approximately 15,000 students in North Carolina who are limited English-proficient. Spanish speaking students form the largest group.