THE VILLAGES — While at their neighborhood recreation center, Village of Duval residents Paul and Dawne Lampson gazed across the street last week and expressed an amazement shared by neighbors Jerry and Sue Wilson and Jim and Gayle Opatrny.

Just a year or so ago, an expanse of undeveloped land existed across the street from the Odell Circle pool, bocce court and postal station.

ORLANDO -- Florida ranks seventh on a list of states in fiscal peril.

According to the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, during a one year period, the state's population fell by more than 58,000.

Florida's population hasn't been this small since World War II.

This may not seem like a big deal for a state with 18 million residents, but it's been 63 years since the population even fell at all.

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Released November 2009, this Microsoft Excel document, "Estimates of Population by County and City in Florida," appears as Table 1 of the upcoming annual Florida Estimates of Population due for release in early 2010, and presents the state's official population estimates, census counts, population change since the 2000 census, and inmate population for Florida and its counties, cities, and unincorporated areas for the specified year.

E-mail. Printed copies by special request only - add $5.00 per copy ordered.

Where do you live? For many people this seemingly simple question doesn’t have a simple answer. Some retirees spend winters in Florida or Arizona and summers in New York or Minnesota. Others buy an RV and move from place to place, with no fixed place of residence. College students spend part of the year in their college towns and part in their home towns. Migrant farm workers often move from place to place over the course of a year, spending no more than a few weeks or months at any given location.

If you picked up the most recent Time magazine, you probably saw a story captioned: ``A Shrinking Sunshine State.''

And, if you're like many Floridians who are sick of stewing in traffic, you got your hopes up.

The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, which tracks population trends, recently reported that the state lost 58,294 residents between April 2008 and April 2009.

The most vivid sign of Florida's fight against recession came in August with the news that the state's ever-rising population declined in the 12 months ending April 1. Preliminary estimates show a drop of 58,000 in a state where growth has fueled the economic engine for more than 60 years.

The Tallahassee metropolitan statistical area, however, gained population during the same period. Wakulla County's increase of 3.5 percent to 31,791 was the most dramatic.

This table features Florida population census counts, April 1, 2000, and estimates 2001 through 2009, for the state, counties, municipalities, and unincorporated areas (last updated November 2009). Available in Microsoft Excel or Adobe Acrobat PDF formats.

Phone 352-392-0171 x 212 or e-mail info@bebr.ufl.edu to order.