MAINE:  GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY

The health of a community is intimately related to its social, cultural and physical environment.  These factors also need to be considered in the design and delivery of social and health care services.

GEOGRAPHY

Maine is the largest of the six New England States.  With a total area of 33,215 square miles, its borders can nearly accommodate the combined areas of the remaining five.  To the west, Maine is bordered by the State of New Hampshire and the Canadian Province of Québec.  The Canadian Province of New Brunswick lies to the Northeast;  while the northern boundary is adjacent to both Québec and New Brunswick.  To the east, across the Bay of Fundy, lies the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia.

Running approximately 3,500 miles, Maine’s jagged Atlantic shoreline is the longest of any state on the East Coast. Eighty-nine percent of Maine is forested; the largest proportion of forested land of any state in the Union. 

Although Maine achieved statehood in 1820, its northern boundary with Canada was not firmly established until 1842.   At the present time, the state is divided into sixteen counties.  The largest county, Aroostook, encompasses 6,453 square miles;  while the smallest, Sagadahoc, contains 262 square miles. Maine’s counties are subdivided into 916 minor civil divisions (MCDs).  There are 493 organized MCDs consisting of 22 cities, 434 towns, 34 plantations and three Indian reservations.  The newest town in Maine is the town of Frye Island, formerly part of the town of Standish.  Frye Island was incorporated on July 1, 1998. The remaining minor civil divisions are unorganized townships and gores.

There are 22,612 miles of public road in Maine, ranging from local streets and roads to interstate 
highway.   Interstate Route I-95 and the Maine Turnpike are the two major highways serving central Maine.  Coastal and northeastern Maine are served by U.S. Route 1. The coastal area contains many peninsulas and islands that are distant from public transportation and many health care services.  There are no major roads seaward of Route 1 to serve these peninsulas. Accessibility to the islands requires boating services, ferries, or emergency air travel.  The northwestern area of the state, bordering northern New Hampshire and Québec is also characterized by a poor road system and long distances between towns.  Of the 8,303 miles of roadway administered by the Maine Department of Transportation, more than half (4,200 miles)  have been identified as needing improvement or reconstruction.

POPULATION DENSITY AND GROWTH

The resident population of Maine on July 1, 1997 was estimated to be 1,242,051, a net increase of 14,123 since the 1990 census.  Increase or decrease of the population results from natural change (births minus deaths) and net migration (in-migration minus out-migration).  When the number of births exceeds the
number of deaths in a population, the change is termed natural increase.  Natural decrease occurs when the number of deaths exceeds the number of births.  Since 1990 the growth in Maine’s population has been driven by natural increase, which contributed 29,743 people to Maine’s 1997 total.  At the same time, there was an estimated net outward migration of 15,620 people.  Five counties appear to have lost population thus far in the current postcensal decade:  Androscoggin, Aroostook, Kennebec, Penobscot, and Piscataquis.  The greatest single dislocation of population occurred in Aroostook County during the first half of the decade, with the drawing down and closure of Loring Air Force Base in the town of Limestone.  Demographers are still assessing the impact of the closure, and many population estimates generated subsequent to this de-population do not completely account for the changes that took place. The reduction in population was probably in the order of 7,000 to 8,000 people.   Statewide, declining births and level 

Figure 1

or slight increases in the number of deaths since 1989 indicate that the rate of growth in the population due to natural increase has been slowing down.  In Figure 1, the sharp spike in the number of deaths occurring 
between 1912 and 1922 was due to the influenza pandemic of 1918.  

Considered as a whole, the distribution of Maine’s population is sparse.  Statewide, the population density was approximately 40 people per square mile of land area in 1997.  Generally speaking, the population
density decreases as you move from south to north.  The greatest concentration of people is in the three
southern counties of York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc. Cumberland County had the highest population density in the state, with 300.9 people per square mile.  With only 4.6 people per square mile, Piscataquis was the least densely populated county in Maine.  In 1997, 71% of Maine’s population lived in communities of fewer than 10,000 people.

Figure 2
POPULATION DENSITY BY COUNTY
1997

Source: Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health, Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics, December 17,              
   1999.

AGE DISTRIBUTION

Maine’s population is aging.  In 1980, the median age in Maine was approximately 30 years.  By 1990 it had increased to 34 years.  The median age in Maine in 1997 was estimated to be around 36 years.
The proportion of the population in Maine age 65 years and over grew from 11.5% in 1970 to 13.3% in 1990.  The Census Bureau estimates that in 1997, there were 173,264 Maine residents in this age group, or 13.9% of the total population of the state.  About 59% of Maine’s 65 and over population was female in 1997.  Among the extreme elderly, those aged 85 or more years, 73% were female.

Figure 3

Source:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, “Estimates of the Population of the U.S. and States by
  Single Year of Age and Sex:  July 1, 1997”, Released July, 1998.

RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION

In 1990 the Maine population was predominantly white;  with approximately 98% of the population identifying with this racial group.  The Asian and Pacific Island population has now surpassed Native Americans as the largest non-white group in the state.  Non-white racial groups, however, only constituted 1.5% of the state’s population in 1990.

Estimates for 1997 suggest that the Asian population in Maine has grown by about 27% since 1990;  while the black population may have increased by as much as 17%.  The Native American population is believed to have decreased by 6% during the same time period.  The estimates for growth in the black population, however, may be somewhat suspect.  The 1990 census figures indicated that a total of 1,001 black individuals were living in Aroostook County.  Nearly 73% of this population resided in the town of Limestone and was affiliated with the Air Force base which closed in 1995.  The Limestone population accounted for approximately 14% of the total black population of Maine in 1990.,   Only 3% of Maine’s Asian and 1% of Maine’s Native American population were associated with the town of Limestone.  Natality data confirm the rapid growth of the Asian population in Maine.  The number of resident live births to Asian mothers in Maine rose from 40 in 1990 to 131 in 1991, an increase of 228%.  In 1997 there were 162 resident live births to women of this racial group

In 1990, six thousand twenty-two Maine residents identified themselves as Native American.  Although present in every county, the greatest concentrations of Native Americans were in Washington (1,442 people), Penobscot (1193 people), Aroostook (871 people), Cumberland (727 people), York (445 people), Kennebec (414 people) and Androscoggin (275 people).  Slightly more than 89% of the Native Americans in Maine resided in one of these seven counties.  Many, but not all, of the Native Americans in Maine are associated with either the Penobscot, the Passamoquoddy, the Maliseet or the Micmac.  In 1995, nearly 80% belonged to one of these four tribal groups.,,

In 1990, 57.5% of the Maine people reported a single ancestry;  while 33.7% reported multiple ancestry.  Based on first reported ancestry, the most prevalent ethnic origin in Maine was English (22.8% of the population), followed by French (22.6%) and Irish (10.9%). When second reported ancestry is considered, more than 30% of Maine people consider themselves all or partly of English descent;  while approximately 27% consider themselves all or partly of French heritage.  The Hispanic population of the state numbered around 6,829 people in 1990.

In 1990, 90.8% of the population aged 5 years and over lived in households where only English was spoken.  About 7.1% of this age group resided in French-speaking homes.   

For purposes of the 1990 census, linguistically isolated households were defined as households “in which no person age 14 years or over speaks only English and no person age 14 years or over who speaks a language other than English speaks English ‘Very well’.”  All members of such a household, including those under fourteen years of age who spoke only English, were considered linguistically isolated.  In 1990, there were 12,038 persons in Maine, age 5 years and over, living in linguistically isolated households.  Eighty-four percent of these people spoke a language other than English, Spanish or an Asian or Pacific Island language.

Figure 4

	SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing,
	   Summary Tape 3A.

EDUCATION

In 1990, 21% of Maine’s population age 25 years and over did not have a high school diploma.  Nearly 9% had less than a 9th grade education.  Twenty-six percent of the age 25 and over population had an associate degree or higher; while another 16% had completed some college, but did not have a degree.  A somewhat different picture emerges when the young adult population, persons age 18 to 24 years, is considered.  For this group fewer than 2% had less than a 9th grade education;  while 52% had completed at least some college coursework.  Nationally, 78% of the general population and 79% of the white population age 25 years and over had completed four years of high school or more in 1990.  At 79%, Maine’s rate was comparable.

Fall enrollment figures for grades K-12 show that, at the start of the 1998-1999 school year, there were 210,927 students enrolled in public schools in Maine.  An additional 16,001 students were enrolled in state-approved private schools.  There were 3,577 registered home schoolers in Maine.  Of the home schoolers, 75% (2,695) were being educated at the Grades 1-8 level.

In 1997, Maine’s secondary school drop-out rate was 3%.  The rate was somewhat variable across counties, ranging from 1.4% of secondary school enrollment in Aroostook County to 4.2% in Oxford County.

Figure 5

	Source:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census Of Population and Housing,
	     Summary Tape File 3A.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Accurate comparative figures regarding religious affiliation in Maine are somewhat difficult to obtain.  The 250,000 Roman Catholics in Maine, however, probably make this denomination the single largest one in the state.  Congregationalists number around 28,088.,  In 1996, the most recent year for which data are
available, there were 27,121 Maine residents affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  American Baptist membership numbered around 20,000 in 1997 and there are an estimated 17,000 Episcopalians in the state.

SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

Maine was hit hard by the recession of the early 1990s and was also slow to recover.  The average annual unemployment rate rose from 5.1% in 1990 to 7.9% in 1993.  Since that time, the unemployment rate has generally been declining.  In 1998 Maine’s unemployment rate averaged 4.4%. 

The per capita income in Maine in 1998 was $22,952, far below that of New England as a whole, and slightly below that observed nationally.  For New England, the per capita income was $37,598;  while, for 

Figure 6
    Source:  Maine Department of Labor, Division of Labor Market Information Services (http:/www.state.me.us/labor/lmis/reports/
       edrg/laus.html), September 27, 1999.

the U.S., it was $26,412.

It is estimated that approximately 11% of the Maine population is living in poverty, about the same
proportion observed nationally for the white population.  In neighboring New Hampshire, however, the three-year average poverty rate for the period from 1995 through 1997 was 6.9%.  Although not statistically significant, the difference between the Maine and the New Hampshire poverty rates is striking.

NATALITY

Since 1989, the annual number of live births to residents of Maine has been dropping. The 13,657 births reported in 1997 is the smallest number observed since 1892, when the modern vital registration system was implemented. The crude birth rate was 11.0 per 1,000 population.

The fertility rate for women age 15-44 years has been dropping.  In 1990 there were 60.4 births per 1,000 women in this age group.  The estimated fertility rate in 1997 was 49.4, a decrease in the rate of just over 18%.  For women age 15-19 years the decline in the fertility rate was even more dramatic.  In 1990 there were 42.9 births per 1,000 women in this age group.  By 1997, the rate had dropped to 32.0 per 1,000 women;  a 25% decrease.  While the fertility rate for younger women has been declining, the rate for older women has been slowly increasing. 

Figure 7

                Source:  Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health, Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics, 
  August 2, 1999.
According to data from Maine PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System), a third of the live births to Maine women, which occurred in 1997, were from unintended pregnancies  The percent unintended varied inversely with age.  For women aged 15 to 19 years, nearly 78% of the births were from unintended pregnancies. The figure dropped to 51% for women aged 20 to 24 years; to 31% for women aged 25 to 29 years;  and to 17% for women aged 30 to 39 years.  Only 8% of the live births to women 40 to 45 years of age were from unintended pregnancies.  Women who had births from unintended pregnancies were more likely to have someone close to them with a bad drinking or drug problem.  They were 4.6 times more likely to have separated or divorced in the year before having their baby.

MORTALITY

In 1990, the average life expectancy in Maine, at birth, was 76.2 years.  For females the life expectancy was 79.4 years, while for males it was 72.8 years.  Life expectancy in Maine increased by about one and a half  years during the intercensal period from 1980 to 1990.  

Figure 8

               SOURCE:  Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of  Health, 
Office of Data, Research  and Vital Statistics, October 1999.

In 1997 there were 11,976 deaths to residents of Maine, yielding a crude rate of 9.6 deaths per 1,000 population. The annual number of deaths has remained remarkably steady over the years, even as the population has increased, due to a declining death rate.  In 1985 the age-adjusted death rate for Maine, based on the 1940 U.S. standard population, was 5.4 deaths per 1,000 population.  By 1996 it had fallen to 4.6 deaths per 1,000, a rate also observed for 1997. 

The leading causes of death in Maine from 1995-1997 were heart disease and cancer;  which contributed 57% of the deaths to residents of this state.

Figure 9

SOURCE:  Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health, Office of Data, Research 
     and Vital Statistics, August, 2, 1999.