Geographical analysis of ethno-cultural diversity of the US population
Composition of the US population is extremely diverse and its geographical distribution is uneven. During recent decades the diversity of population increased considerably. A number of indices are applied to evaluate the diversity of population. However, American studies generally consider only race composition and being among the hispanic Americans. We suggest expanding the application of diversity indices (DI) taking into account the origin of respondents (ethnic and cultural identity) and native countries of first-generation immigrants. Cartographic analysis of phenomena distribution within urban agglomerations (the so-called metropolitan statistical areas - MSAs of the USA) is also worth applying. Application of the new technique made it possible to reveal some characteristic features of the geography of population diversity in the USA. Traditionally diverse areas infringe the country's territory along the coasts and the southern border. Inland regions are race-uniform but the origin diversity is very high there. Near-border MSA in the southern part of the USA have low values of DI due to the so-called “majority of minorities”. Correlation of data on the degree of diversity for particular MSAs with their population numbers, proportion of immigrants and geographical position made it possible to develop the typology of American MSAs.