FROM THE EDITORS

Throughout our history, going back more than two centuries, the United States populace has been an ever-evolving phenomenon. New immigrants have flocked to this nation from scores of countries. Pioneers have blazed trails across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and over land, to various parts of the United States. Subsequently, their families and descendants have followed those paths to new homes, new occupations and new self-worth as U.S. citizens. And as one generation passes from the scene and a new one springs forth, the population invariably is affected. Even in our day, we have seen the "baby boomer" generation, born just after World War II, drive U.S. society for much of the second half of this century. Now, thanks to longer life expectancy and their own dynamism, seniors are assuming an impressive role in the United States as the century ends and a new one begins. This Journal presents fundamental demographic details about the changing U.S. population at this moment in history, the U.S. census, new immigration trends and the growing impact of seniors, among other subjects, and offers resources for further exploration of the topic.