This development—and its strong implications for US politics and economy in years ahead—has enthroned the South as America’s most densely populated region for the first time in the history of the nation’s head counting.

【翻译】这种发展，及其对美国政治、经济在未来多年的强大影响，在全国人口普查史上第一次把南部地区当作美国人口最密集的地区。

enthrone ... as...：把......推崇为......；把......任命为......；将.....当作......。