Brits rule in Utah.
People who claim English ancestry make up nearly 700,000 residents, or 30 percent of the state's population, according to data contained in a report from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey released Tuesday. Nationally, about 10 percent of the population claims English ancestry.
Descendants of people from Scotland, Ireland and Wales make up a combined 13.4 percent of the population.
"Utah has more British ancestry per capita, I think, than any other state," said Neil Ashdown of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. "That is in large part because of missionary work going on in England when the state was founded."
Much of the migration from England to Utah in the late 1800s consisted of converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says Glen M. Leonard, director of the Museum of Church History and Art.
The LDS British mission began in 1830, Leonard said. Census data for 1850 show 10 percent of the population was born in England. In 1860, nearly 18 percent of the state's residents reported having been born in England. That year about 5 percent of the state's population was born in Scandinavia, following the opening of the Scandinavian LDS mission in 1850.
"Until 1890, the mentality was 'convert and gather,' " Leonard said. "Come to headquarters and help build a temple."
After 1890, the focus changed and church members were encouraged to stay at home. The turn of the century was when a more diverse foreign population, including those from the Mediterranean and southern Europe, entered the state, lured by the mining industry.
The second most common ancestry found in the state is German, with 13 percent of all Utahns surveyed reporting German ancestry.
German was followed by Danish ancestry, with Swedish and Norwegian not far behind.
Laura Kilgore's grandparents came to Utah from Oslo, Norway. She works at The Scandinavian Shop on South Temple in Salt Lake City. The shop stocks sweaters, specialty food, clogs and decorations from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Especially around Christmas, the shop tends to attract a lot customers of Scandinavian descent as well as returned LDS missionaries who served in those countries.
"There are a lot of Scandinavians who come in from around the valley," Kilgore said. "Some of them come to Utah because of the skiing and the mountains."
The census report also detailed the place of birth, year of entry and citizenship of Utah's population.
While 94 percent of all Utahns were born in the United States, only about 70 percent were born in Utah. Of those who were foreign-born, 35 percent are naturalized citizens and 53 percent entered the country between 1990 and 2000.
Tuesday's data release included information for the nation, all states and a selection of metropolitan areas. Utah places included in the report are the Salt Lake-Ogden area, Salt Lake County and Utah County.
The national survey serves as a test run for a yearly program that could replace the once-a-decade, long-form census questionnaire. Many of the questions are similar if not identical to questions asked on the 53-question long form, which was distributed in 2000 to one in every six homes as part of the official census count.
The Supplementary Survey went out to 1,203 counties throughout the country, nine of which were in Utah, including Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah and Tooele counties.
Demographers caution that the Supplementary Survey should not be confused with Census 2000 data, which draws from a much larger sample size. Official 2000 Census numbers from the long form with similar information are scheduled to be released periodically through 2003.
E-mail: ehayes@desnews.com