Population

2004-06-13 15:02

China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.27627 billion people at the end of 2001, about 20 percent of the world’s total. This figure does not include many Chinese in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Province and Macao Special Administrative Region.

The population density in China is 130 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. Along the densely populated east coast there are more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km.

The following table gives an overall view of the composition of the population of China:

Sex Region Age

Male Female Urban Rural Under 14 15-64 year old Above 65
51.65% 48.5% 37.7% 62.3% 22.5% 70.4% 7.1%