MARKET: HOUSTON |
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OVERVIEW
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Houston is a diverse and international city, in part because of its many academic institutions and strong industries. Over 90 languages are spoken in the city.[84] Houston has among the youngest populations in the nation,[85][86][87] partly due to an influx of immigrants into Texas.[88] The city has the third-largest Hispanic and third-largest Mexican population in the United States.[89] An estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants reside in Houston.[90] Houston has one of the largest South Asian (i.e., Indian and Pakistani) communities in the United States.[91]
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 1,953,631 people and the population density was 3,371.7 people per square mile (1,301.8/km¬¾). The racial makeup of the city was 49.27 percent White, 25.31 percent Black, 5.31 percent Asian, 0.44 percent American Indian, 0.06 percent Pacific Islander, 16.46 percent from some other race, and 3.15 percent from two or more races. Persons of Hispanic origin’Äîwho may be of any race’Äîaccounted for 37 percent of the population while non-Hispanic whites made up 30.8 percent.
Houston has a large population of immigrants from Asia, including the largest Vietnamese-American population in Texas and third-largest in the United States, with 85,000 people in 2006.[92] Some parts of the city with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese street signs, in addition to English ones. Houston has two Chinatowns: the original located in Downtown, and the more recent one north of Bellaire Boulevard in the southwest area of the city.[93][94] The city has a Little Saigon in Midtown and Vietnamese businesses located in the southwest Houston Chinatown.[95] A "Little India" community referred to as the "Harwin District" exists along Hillcroft.[96]
Houston has a large gay community concentrated primarily in Montrose, Neartown and Houston Heights. It is estimated that the Houston metropolitan area has the twelfth-largest number of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals in the United States. [97]
