US Population Grows to Nearly 309 Million
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
The U.S. Census Bureau has released its figures from its latest population count, and a number of states — most of them Republican-leaning — will see increases in their congressional representation.
In data released Tuesday, the Census Bureau said the total number of people living in the United States is 308.7 million, marking the lowest growth since the 1930s. It says the figure is an increase of 9.7 percent since the last census in 2000.
A once-a-decade population count is mandated by law and decides the distribution of billions of dollars in federal aid and the make-up of congressional districts. Because of changes in population numbers, 18 states will see either a gain or loss to their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican-leaning Texas will have four more House seats, while the battleground state of Florida will get two. Other states to see an increase are Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Utah — all with large numbers of Republican voters — as well as the Democratic-leaning state of Washington.
States that are losing seats include Ohio, New York, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Democrats have done well in many of those states.
Census Bureau Director Robert Groves says births accounted for about 60 percent of the population increase, while immigration was responsible for the other 40 percent. He says the census recorded the residential population, including citizens and illegal immigrants.
The latest figures show southern states, such as Florida and Texas, are experiencing the fastest growth nationwide with an overall increase of 14.3 percent. Western states, such as Nevada and California, followed closely with an overall growth of 13.8 percent.
US Population Growth reported by U.S. Census Bureau for 2010 article came from the blog.voanews.com
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