Experts predict that the U.S. will be increasingly populated by people of mixed racial parentage in the first quarter of the 21st century and beyond.

• While 72 percent of the U.S. population is currently white, that proportion will decline to 62.4 percent by 2025 -- with the remaining populace composed of 17.6 percent Hispanic, 13 percent blacks, 6.2 percent Asians, and 0.8 percent American Indians.

• Between 1999 and 2025, the total population is projected to increase from 272.6 million to 335 million -- up 23 percent.

• The median age of the population will climb from today's 35.5 years to 38 in 2025, but the median age for minority groups will remain much younger than the aging white population.

• While blacks now comprise a larger share of the minority population than Hispanics -- 12.1 percent of all Americans versus 11.5 percent for Hispanics -- that will be reversed by 2025.

By 2050, demographers say the percentage of the U.S. population of mixed black, white, Hispanic and/or Asian heritage will likely triple, to 21 percent.

Source: Maria Puente and Martin Kasindorf, "The New Face of America," USA Today, September 7, 1999.