Fulton County remained the

state's most populous county in figures released yesterday by the Census

Bureau.

But the county only grew by

254 residents to 825,431 from July 1, 2001, to July 1, 2002.

While Fulton's growth rate

remained stagnant, its neighbors to the south grew at a much faster clip.

Fayette County added just 2,033

people, the Census estimated, for a growth rate of 2.1 percent.

Fayette's population was estimated

at 96,611 on July 1 last year. Coweta County's was 97,771, for a growth

rate of 3.7 percent over the previous year.

Coweta added 3,699 people during

the period, the Census said.

This is the first year that

Coweta has surpassed Fayette in population.

Fulton's stagnant growth was

mirrored in many of the state's largest urban counties. Both Columbus-Muscogee

County and Augusta-Richmond County lost population during the year, while

DeKalb and Chatham, like Fulton, had negligible growth.

But three Metro Atlanta "exurban"

counties, including one Southside county, continued to rank among the

top 10 fastest growing counties in the nation.

Henry County ranked third

in growth nationally, adding 9,280 people for a total of 139,699, or a

rate of 7.1 percent.

Forsyth County north of Atlanta

ranked fourth, adding 7,741 people, bringing its population to 116,924,

also a rate of 7.1 percent.

And Newton County, east of

Atlanta on I-20, made the list at No. 7 nationally, growing by 4,451 people

to 71,594.

Rockwell County in Texas, near

Dallas, recorded the fastest growth in the nation, at 7.9 percent.

Fayette County's growth was

still better than the state as a whole. Georgia grew by about 150,000

people during the period to about 8.5 million, the Census estimated, or

a rate of just 1.8 percent. That's significantly less than the record-setting

growth the state recorded in the late 1990s, and the first significant

slowdown in Georgia growth in more than a decade credited with the state's

struggling service economy, hit hard after 9/11 last year.

On the web: www.census.gov.