This report describes the foreign-born population in the United States in 1999. It provides a profile of their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as region of birth, geographic distribution in the United States, age, educational attainment, and poverty status. These characteristics are compared with those of the native population, and because the foreign born are a heterogeneous group, variability within the foreign-born population is also discussed. The findings are based on data collected by the Census Bureau in the March 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS).

The Foreign Born were not U.S. citizens at birth. Natives were born in the United States or a U.S. Island Area such as Puerto Rico, or born abroad of a U.S. citizen parent.