THE TREND OF POPULATION in the United States has consistently been Westward. As the Chart at right illustrates, at no time in 100 years of record has the population of the West failed to grow relatively faster than other large regions of the country.

THIS LONG-TIME TREND is well known to most of us, but two significant points are often overlooked and need emphasis. They are:

1. The rate of growth has not changed much, but the number of people involved in the population increases of the West is becoming progressively greater and dwarfing past records. In the ten years from 1950 to 1960 the West gained as many people as it had gained in the 50 years prior to 1920. Recent numerical increases in the West are many times greater than in the busiest gold rush days.

The point is that the Western movement is much more significant today than it has ever been, simply because a much greater number of people is involved. 2. The growth of population in the West has by no means been uniform throughout the region but has been concentrated in a few key states. Since 1910 the population center of the United States has been shifting southwesterly-not due west.

The trend of growth within the West is toward California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Colorado and Utah have been showing good growth, but the other Western states have been gaining population at only a modest rate.

The channeling of Western growth into a few areas has greatly enlarged the economic importance of California and Arizona. These two states now represent over 60% of the West's population and currently account for three-fourths of the population growth in the eleven states comprising the "West."