Nevada's population increased more than 2,000 percent from the 1860s to the late 2000s, making it the United States' fastest-growing state. Huge construction contracts and thousands of jobs in the gambling industry provide a steady draw for workers. Though the population explosion died down in the aftermath of the economic recession in 2008, Nevada still grew faster than 42 other states between 2007 and 2008.
More growth statistics:
- The fastest-growing city in the U.S. is Dallas, which grew by more than one-fourth from 2000 and 2010. The fastest-growing cities in the world are Beihai and Chongqing, in China, followed by Ghaziabad, India.
- Cleveland, Detroit and Canton, Ohio, are said to be the fastest-shrinking cities in the U.S. A combination of population movement, recession economics and high unemployment rates have caused the cities to greatly decrease in population and wealth. The states losing population the fastest are Michigan, Rhode Island and Ohio.
- The fastest-growing countries in the world are Equatorial Guinea, Bosnia-Herzegovina and China. The countries losing population the fastest are Japan and Russia.