The U.S. Census Bureau this week released a 2010 Census brief on the nation’s Hispanic population, which shows the Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million between 2000 and 2010 and accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase of 27.3 million.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43%, or four times the nation’s 9.7% growth rate.

The Hispanic Population: 2010 brief looks at an important part of our nation’s changing ethnic diversity with a particular focus on Hispanic origin groups, such as Mexican, Dominican and Cuban.

About three-quarters of Hispanics in the United States reported as Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban origin in the 2010 Census. Mexican origin was the largest group, representing 63% of the total U.S. Hispanic population — up from 58% in 2000. This group increased by 54% and saw the largest numeric change (11.2 million), growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010. Mexicans accounted for about three-fourths of the 15.2 million increase in the total Hispanic population between 2000 and 2010.

New Census data also shows a growing racial/ethnic divide by age.

Nationally, 80% of seniors are white and only in a few counties are most seniors people of color. But the younger population looks vastly different: the majority of babies born in the last two years were nonwhite, and across the country—from our largest cities to suburbs, small towns, and rural areas—young Americans are increasingly people of color, according to PolicyLink.

Check out PolicyLink’s new animated map illustrating here on this stark racial and generational divide:

A New Generation Gap? The Diverging Demographics of Seniors and Youth from PolicyLink on Vimeo.