L.A. climbs past 4 million

The population of L.A. quietly surpassed the 4-million mark for the first time last year, the California Department of Finance announced Tuesday.

Angelenos probably don't need a demographer to tell them what they already know: that the city is growing more densely populated. But the numbers show that the city gained 37,658 residents last year, and as of Jan. 1, its population was 4,018,080.

"It's a spectacular arc of development when you consider that in 1900, L.A. had a population of 102,459," said historian Kevin Starr.

L.A. lore holds that the city was founded in 1781 by 44 people, transplants from the San Gabriel Mission. That puts the 226-year gain in population at 4,018,036.

The L.A. numbers were part of a report released Tuesday that pegged the state's population at almost 37.7 million. That represents a growth of almost 1.3%, or 470,000, in 2006.

State demographers use a variety of data -- including driver's licenses, school enrollments, Medi-Cal recipients, birthrates, immigration and state to state migration -- to estimate population change.

The Riverside County city of Beaumont saw the state's fastest growth rate, 21.2%.

In Orange County, Irvine passed 200,000 in population, bringing to 20 the number of cities in the state that exceed 200,000 in population.

But it was the Los Angeles numbers that had most people talking Tuesday.

Just how big does that make L.A.?

With 4 million people, the city of Los Angeles has more people than 24 states, according to federal census data. And it's got roughly the same number as the entire country of New Zealand.

The increase occurred over the last year, as L.A. added 10,239 housing units, according to the state data.

Many of those units were downtown, where the city has seen a marked increase in population as former commercial buildings have been converted into lofts and apartments and a number of new residential buildings have opened.

The city, Starr said, is "embracing and exulting in its urbanism."

Starr and other historians have said that Los Angeles' role as an international city, attracting immigrants from all over the world, has been a key factor in its quick demographic rise.

Los Angeles, said Harry Pachon, a USC public policy professor, has "been in a growth mode