The population of the United States reached 300 million at 9:46 a.m. MST on Oct. 17, according to U.S. census estimates. Forty-two percent of the rise can be attributed to immigration.

“Our population is largely growing now because of the influx of immigrants and because minority populations are growing faster than white populations,” said Michael Abel, a professor in the Sociology and Social Work Department at BYU-Idaho.

A 2006 estimate from the Pew Hispanic Center says that since 1966 the U.S. Hispanic population has increased by 36.2 million, with the white population growth at 33.8 million. Abel said that this could be attributed to family size.

“The immigrant population tends to be more family oriented,” Abel said, “which tends to encourage having more children; the average white family is having less than two children.”

“People who have been here a few generations are having [kids] below the population replacement [level],” Abel added.

Why are so many people immigrating to America?

“It’s because of the American dream, people believe in it, people buy into it and they know that there are opportunities here that maybe are harder to find elsewhere,” Abel said.

In an official statement issued concerning the population landmark, President Bush said, “We welcome this milestone as further proof that the American Dream remains as bright and hopeful as ever.”

Abel said the rise in population is not world wide; many European countries’ populations are decreasing, causing problems for economies.

“European countries are worried that their economies might collapse, and they are giving incentives for their population to hatch,” he said.

“Going backwards tends to be a very panicky thing for governments because all of the economic infrastructure that we have in our country is built around the population we have. There are so many jobs to satisfy a population that is so large. If that population starts to go backwards then who does those jobs that were created for the population when it was bigger?”

This 300 million population milestone, in the United States, was reached only 39 years after the 200 million population count, with the population increasing every 11 seconds.

The United States is currently the third most populous country in the world behind only China and India.