Millennials are taking over our country – based on their generation's size, at least. New numbers from the Census Bureau show 83.1 million Americans are aged 15 to 33 (born from 1982-2000) and make up one-quarter of the population. That generation is known as millennials because 2000 started a new 1,000 years – a millennium – on the calendar.

Members of the generation now outnumber the largest block of predecessors -- baby boomers, born from 1946-64 (now 51-69), by almost eight million. Millennials also are more diverse than previous generations, with 44 percent being part of a minority race or ethnic group. "The population as a whole has become more racially and ethnically diverse in just the last decade," the federal agency said as it released the latest data recently. In 2004, nearly 33 percent of Americans were minorities. That rose to almost 38 percent last year.

Here's another eye-opener: More than one-in-three U.S. adult workers today are millennials. This year they surpassed Generation X (born 1965-82) to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to a new analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.

Census official says: "Millennials are increasing through international migration. People are most likely to migrate when they're young adults." -- Ben Bolender, chief of the population estimates branch

Researcher says: "The issue is, 'Are they going to be as cohesive as a group with their tastes and in terms of how they impact society?' . . . We still will have to look at over time and see how distinct they are as a generation." -- William Frey, Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.

What’s ahead: A majority of all Americans will belong to a race or ethnic minority group by 2044, mainly because of increases in the Hispanic and Asian populations, the Census Bureau estimates.