ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Indian country component of Native American residence. It explains Indian country; presents some basic population characteristics of tribal areas. Unfortunately, however, the information available on the land profile of Indian country departs significantly from the ideal. The distribution of Native Americans in the tribal areas by census region and division understandably varies by component of Indian country. The state distribution of the total American Indian population shows wide variation. In 1990, 49 percent of the American Indian population nationwide lived in nonmetropolitan areas, compared with 23 percent of the entire US population, 16 percent of blacks, and 10 percent of Hispanics. The Native American population in the tribal areas grew noticeably during the 1990s, although that growth was smaller than the increase that occurred in the 1980s. Native American population growth rates in all areas largely slowed, but the surrounding counties still experienced the greatest increase.
