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Five unusual Census 2010 facts

Which state has more people per square mile than India? Which state saw its smallest population growth in at least a century? The data released Tuesday gives Americans a first look at what Census 2010 is saying about the United States. For example, the US population grew more slowly this past decade – 9.7 percent – than in any decade since the 1930s. Back during the Great Depression, six states lost population. In the first 10 years of the 2000s, only one state was a loser. Do you know which one?

1. Michigan

Rebecca Cook/Reuters/File
Restaurant waitress Tammy Maynard talks about the local economy and its effect on business at the Texan Restaurant in Saginaw, Mich., Oct. 18. The Census Bureau reported Dec. 21 that the state lost 0.6 percent of its population during the 2000s, Michigan's first such population loss in at least a century.

  • By Laurent Belsie Staff writer

The Wolverine State may have been struggling since the Nixon administration and the first oil embargo. But it managed to increase its population every decade, until the 2000s. In 2010, for the first time in at least a century, Michigan saw a net decade-long decline in residents of 0.6 percent. That's a far cry from the glory days of the 1920s, when Henry Ford and his competitors were in full swing and the number of total residents soared 32 percent in a decade.

Which jurisdiction saw its first population increase since the 1940s?

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