The distribution of political representation under the Constitution was authorized on this date in 1792. Based on the results of the 1790 Census, the House of Representatives was to be apportioned according to population, coming as near to equal populations in the districts as could be determined. That first census counted a resident population of over 3.9 million people in the soon to be 15 states. There were then 105 seats in the House of Representatives, and the Apportionment Act raised to 33,000 from the Constitution’s specified 30,000 the population target for each representative’s district. In today’s House, 435 representatives serve some 319 million resident Americans, an average of almost 733,000 each. Profile America is completing its 18th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.