Profile: Obama, first U.S. African-American presidential nominee

U.S. senator Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first African-American presidential nominee of a major U.S. party.

Barack Obama is a first-term senator from Illinois.

Previously, he served in the Illinois state legislature and worked as a civil rights attorney.

Obama has proposed legislation that would create a new employment eligibility system for companies to verify if their employees are legal residents.

Obama, whose father is from Kenya, is considered by experts to be the first African-American candidate with a reasonable chance of winning the presidency.

Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Hawaii and has lived in many places, including Indonesia.

Obama attended Columbia University in New York and earned a law degree at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters.

Time magazine dubbed Obama "America's hottest political phenomenon".

He impressed observers by showing unprecedented fundraising ability and running a highly energized campaign.

Much of his weakness points to the lack of political experience.

By now, he has served only less than four years in the Senate even less than John F Kennedy did before he was elected in 1960.