Henan is one of the most populous provinces in China. According to the statistics made in the end of 2000, its total population is 95.55 million, with 21.47 million or 23.2 percent urban residents and 71.09 million or 76.8 percent of people living in rural areas. Males make up for 51.59 percent of its population and the female, 48.41 percent.

Population growth rate:

The natural population growth in Henan Province in 2001 was 7 per thousand.

Ethnicity:

There are 51 ethnic groups living in Henan Province, including the Han, Hui, Mongolian, Manchu, Zhuang, Miao, Tibetan, Uygur, Yi, Korean, Tujia, and Bai. The Han people make up 98.8 percent of the population, and the ethnic minorities, 1.2 percent.

Literacy:

There are 41,404 primary schools, with 11.306 million pupils at school; 5,444 junior high schools, with 5.08 million students at school; 688 high schools with 947,300 students; and 52 colleges and universities with 369,100 students. The number of teachers and staff members at school is 1.06 million. Twenty-two institutes have been entitled to grant graduate degrees, and there are 14 tutorial units for doctorial studies, and 198 for master degree studies. The total number of graduate students at school is 2,392.

The students and teachers and staff members make up 27 percent of Henan’s population. The enrollment rate of junior high schools is 98.05 percent, and 87 percent of the school-age population can receive nine-year compulsory education, a percentage higher than the average figure of the country.