II. Population

Total population: 37.62 million (2008).

Population growth rate: 4.08‰ (2008)

Ethnicity: The Han ethnic group accounts for 99.4 percent of the total. Other groups include the Hui, the Manchu,and the Mongolian.

Primary-school graduates: 13.8 million (male: 6.93 million; female: 6.87 million)

Junior-middle-school graduates: 10.06 million (male: 5.68 million; female: 4.38 million)

Senior-middle-school graduates: 3.71 million (male: 2.14 million; female: 1.57 million)

University and college graduates 854,000 (male: 531,000; female: 323,000)

Total population of age 15 and over who cannot read or write: 4.28 million (male: 1.37 million; female: 2.91 million).