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01/21/2005:

"Australian Aboriginal Population Booms"

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's aboriginal population is booming as more people identify themselves as indigenous, but Aborigines continue to be the nation's most disadvantaged group, dying some 17 years younger.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2005 snapshot of Australia shows the indigenous population has grown at twice the rate of the overall population since 1996.

There are now 458,500 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders living in Australia, making up 2.3 percent of the 20 million population, up from 283,000 a decade earlier, said the report released on Friday.
Full Article: nytimes.com/reuters