三分之一美国县城的死亡率高于出生率.docxVIP

三分之一美国县城的死亡率高于出生率Recently, we reported on the importance of counties in the United States.最近我们报道了美国县城的重要性。Today we have a lot more on what the U.S. Census Bureau calls the primary political and administrative divisions of states.今天我们来更多地谈一谈这个被美国人口普查局称为“国家主要政治和行政区划”的县城。There are more than 3,000 counties nationwide.美国有3000多个县城。Most states use the word county to describe these subdivisions, or separate areas, within a larger territory. Naturally, there are exceptions to this definition. For example, the southern state of Louisiana is divided up into parishes.大多数州使用“县”这个词来描述州内的这些分支地区。当然，这个定义也有例外。例如，南部的路易斯安那州被分为各个教区。The Census Bureau reports that 1,653 counties lost population between 2010 and 2015. That is more than half of all counties nationwide. At the same time, the general population grew by about 4 percent.美国人口普查局报告称，2010年~2015年间，美国有1653个县的人口呈下降趋势，这个数字超过了美国所有县总数的一半。与此同时，美国总人口增长了4%左右。Delaware and Hawaii are the only two states that did not have a single county with a falling population number.只有特拉华和夏威夷两个州所辖的县中，各县的人口没下降。If not for new immigrants, 194 more U.S. counties would have lost population.如果不是因为新移民，美国还有194个县的人口会下降。More people are dying than are being born in more than one-third of all counties. Population experts call this natural decrease. But that does not always mean their population is shrinking.美国有三分之一的县死亡率超过出生率，人口专家称之为“人口自然减少”。但是这并非总是意味着人口正在减少。A countys population can grow even when there are more deaths than births. The reason? People are moving there from other parts of the United States or from other countries.即使一个县的死亡率超过出生率，人口也可能会增长。这是为什么呢？因为人们从美国其它地方或其它国家源源不断地迁移到这里。Some news stories have described counties that record more deaths than births as dying counties. In 2009, the Census Bureau reported natural decrease in 880 counties. In 2012, the Census Bureau estimated natural decrease in 1,135 counties. Most were in rural areas.一些新闻将死亡率高于出生率的县称之为“正在消失的县”。2009年，美国人口普查局报告称，美国有880个县出现了人口自然减少的问题。到了2012年，人口普查局预计1135个县存在人口自然减少问题。其中大多数县都在农村地区。Kenneth Johnson