L.A. COUNTY IMMIGRANT CAPITAL 36.2 PERCENT OF '02 POPULATION FOREIGN-BORN.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Los Angeles County leads the nation's counties in the number of foreign-born residents - 3.4 million - while Glendale ranks third among U.S. cities with 54.4 percent of its residents born somewhere else, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

The new report, based on the 2000 Census, shows that 36.2 percent of the county's 9.52 million people were born in a country other than the United States.

California led all states nationwide, with 26.2 percent of its population born in a foreign country. Nationwide, 31.1 million, or 11.1 million of the nation's 281.4 million residents, were foreign-born, up from 19.8 million in 1990.

While people born in Latin American countries constitute the bulk of most California cities' immigrant populations, nearly 54,000 people in Glendale, or more than 25 percent of the city's 195,000 residents, identified themselves as having Armenian roots.

Mayor Frank Quintero said the waves of Armenian immigrations since 1976, as well of increasing numbers of Hispanics and Koreans, have ``changed the face of the city.''

``It's been a very positive situation for the city,'' said Quintero, who serves on a five-member City Council that includes another Latino, two Armenians and a white.

``Like the rest of Los Angeles, it obviously takes a while for people to assimilate and to fit in, and we've gone through the same issues as other sections and parts of Los Angeles,'' Quintero said.

Glendale Councilman Bob Yousefian called the ethnic and cultural shift in the city ``a mixed bag,'' with diversity often positive economically.

``Nobody has felt any kind of pain (in) ... the supermarket strike because you can go to 50 markets - Armenian, Hispanic, Cuban, Korean, you name it. It's very cosmopolitan,'' Yousefian said. ``Glendale almost has its own mini-economy.''

Still, there have been challenges, he said.

``Some of the older generation doesn't speak the language. Some have difficulty adjusting to some rules and the culture. Paramedics show up, and they (patients) can't speak the language,'' he said.

Five other California cities with 100,000 residents or more were in the top 10 nationally for their large immigrant populations: Santa Ana, 53.2 percent foreign-born; Daly City, 52.3 percent; El Monte, 51.4 percent; Garden Grove, 43.2 percent; and Los Angeles, 40.9 percent.

The Census Bureau reported additionally on East Los Angeles, with 48.8 percent foreign-born.

With 1.5 million immigrants, Los Angeles trailed only New York City, which had about 2.8 million.

The Census Bureau collects the data to aid in monitoring civil-rights compliance and in setting and evaluating immigration laws and policies, the report authors wrote.

Nationally, 52 percent of immigrants came from Latin America, 26 percent from Asia, 16 percent from Europe, and 6 percent from other parts of the world.

Nearly 60 percent of the immigrants came from just 10 countries. Mexico sent the most - almost 30 percent of the foreign-born population in the United States. China was second and accounted for 4.9 percent of U.S. immigrants.

In 2000, 38 percent of the nation's foreign-born population lived in the West, according to the study.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com