Chapter 7
               HISTORY OF BIRTH-REGISTRATION AREA

     The national birth-registration area was proposed in 1850 and
established in 1915. By 1933 all 48 States and the District of Columbia were
participating in the registration system. The organized territories of
Hawaii and Alaska were admitted in 1929 and 1950, respectively; data from
these areas were prepared separately until they became States--Alaska in
1959 and Hawaii in 1960.  Currently the birth-registration system of the
United States covers the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the
independent registration area of New York City, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands.  However, in the statistical tabulations, "United States" refers
only to the aggregate of the 50 States (including New York City) and the
District of Columbia.  Tabulations for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and
Guam are shown separately in section 3 of this volume.
     The original birth-registration area of 1915 consisted of 10 States and
the District of Columbia. The growth of this area is indicated in table 4-1.
This table also presents for each year through 1932 the estimated midyear
population of the United States and of those States included in the
registration system.
     Because of the growth of the area for which data have been collected
and tabulated, a national series of geographically comparable data before
1933 can be obtained only by estimation.  Annual estimates of births have
been prepared by P. K. Whelpton for 1909-34 (4) (table 1-1).  These
estimates include adjustments for underregistration and for States that were
not part of the birth-registration area before 1933.


























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