About 20 percent of the world�s population lives in China. Of the country�s inhabitants, more than 90 percent are ethnic Han Chinese. The Han are descendants of people who settled the plains and plateaus of northern and central China more than 5,000 years ago, and of people in southern China who were absorbed by the northerners more than 2,000 years ago and gradually adopted a shared culture with them.

  The remainder of China�s population consists of minority nationalities, such as Tibetans and Mongols. Most of the minority nationalities are concentrated in the sparsely settled areas of western and southwestern China.

  Population characteristics. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power in 1949, the government took a census to assess the human resources available for the first five-year plan, the state�s comprehensive economic and social development plan. The census, compiled in 1953, counted a population of 582,600,000. A second census, taken in 1964, showed an increase to 694,580,000. The third census, in 1982, revealed a population of 1,008,180,000, making China the first nation with a population of more than 1 billion. By 2009 China�s estimated population was 1,338,613,000.
  While China�s population continues to grow, the growth rate has slowed in step with declining fertility and birth rates. The fertility rate (the average number of children born to each woman during her lifetime) declined from 6.2 in the early 1950s to 1.8 in 2009. The birth rate declined from about 45 births per 1,000 people in 1953 to an estimated 14 in 2008, and the death rate dropped from 22 per 1,000 people to an estimated 7. As a result, the annual growth rate declined from about 2.25 percent in 1953 to 0.66 percent in 2009. Nevertheless, even at that rate China�s population still grows by millions of people each year. The most serious challenge created by such a large annual population increase is finding employment for the millions of young people who enter the workforce each year. Although China�s economy has grown rapidly, especially since the early 1990s, it has not been able to provide enough good opportunities for all new workers, many of whom have only minimal education and skills.

  The one-child policy. The decrease in fertility rate recorded from the 1950s on resulted largely from government efforts. These efforts included promoting late marriages and, after 1979, inducing Chinese couples to have only one child. This one-child policy actually allows for two or more children under some circumstances. In addition to implementing the one-child policy, the state has expanded the number of public health facilities that provide birth-control information and contraceptive devices at little or no cost. Abortion is legal, and pregnant women who already have one or more children face social and administrative pressures to terminate their pregnancies. However, women who belong to one of China�s national minorities may not face the same level of pressure. In general, government policies allow non-Han peoples more cultural independence and permit them to have larger families. This is due to historical trends of high mortality among minorities, Marxist ideology, and the government�s political interest in appearing friendly and sensitive to the needs of China�s ethnic minority peoples.
  A consequence of the one-child program has been a higher than normal ratio of males to females. Some families use new methods to identify the sex of unborn fetuses and abort female fetuses in order to ensure the birth of a male. In addition, reports of female infanticide in China have been numerous. The reasons for the preference for boys are complex but lie partly in established cultural traditions. Sons carry on the family name and are responsible for performing ritual obligations of ancestor worship. Perhaps more important, however, sons are expected to care for their parents in old age. Typically, daughters care for their husband�s parents rather than for their own. This care is of concern particularly in rural areas, where the majority of Chinese still live, because the state supplies few, if any, pension benefits in these areas. Consequently, parents who have only one child prefer to have a son to ensure a more comfortable retirement.

  Population density. There are extreme differences in population densities in different parts of China. The vast majority of people live in the country�s historic heartland�the plateaus, plains, and basins of eastern China. The region�s alluvial floodplains, which have fertile soils and extensive water resources, have always been the most productive food-producing areas. This productivity is reflected in high population densities. In urban areas of eastern China, population densities can exceed more than 2,200 persons per sq km (5,800 per sq mi). By contrast, western China has high mountains and harsh weather conditions. This region is sparsely settled, and large areas have a population density of less than 10 persons per sq km (26 per sq mi).

  Migration. In the 1950s and 1960s China sought to alleviate the increasing population pressure in the east by encouraging Han people to migrate westward. The government also hoped the migration would help secure the sensitive frontier areas of the west and northwest. These areas lay far from the center of government, and the people who lived there had fewer cultural and historic ties to Beijing. However, Han migration to western China slowed by the end of the 20th century. Most of the population growth there has resulted from a comparatively higher birth rate and declining death rate among non-Han peoples.
  The Chinese government has also sought to control rural-to-urban migration because of insufficient jobs in cities for additional workers. To control the movement of all Chinese citizens, the government instituted a household registration (hukou) system in the late 1950s. Similar to an internal passport system, it allowed no one to move without police permission. Such permission typically was granted only to individuals who had obtained a job in a state-supported enterprise. Most rural people were denied the right to move off their farm or out of their village, even to a neighboring town.
  During the political upheavals of China�s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the government sent urban youth to rural areas to live and work among the peasants. This program attempted to lessen the perceived differences in income and material well-being between city and countryside. The government was also motivated by its inability to provide sufficient food for the populations of China�s growing cities. Forced migration to the countryside decreased after the death of Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1976. Economic reforms adopted in 1978 virtually eliminated the practice. However, the government still controls migration from rural areas to urban areas through the household registration system.
  Beginning in the late 1970s the government permitted limited and temporary migration to the cities. This move came about in part because a booming economy had created the need for unskilled workers in construction and low-level service jobs. As a result of this migration, China�s cities now have two classes of urban citizens. One class works in state-supported enterprises and receives housing, schooling for children, health care, and other subsidies. The other class consists of those who have migrated to cities as transients to work in construction, manufacturing, domestic service, or other low-wage positions. Many temporary migrants do not have proper housing, sanitary facilities, or access to medical care or educational opportunities for their children. Despite these deprivations and difficulties, peasants continue to migrate to cities because they perceive the opportunities for employment and the quality of life to be better. Even so, China�s population remained predominantly rural during the 2000s, when about three-fifths of the total population lived in the countryside.