In 2001, the total population of the province was 77.8341 million, ranking third in China.

Ethnicity:

There are 53 ethnical groups living in the province, and the population of the minority ethnical groups accounts for 0.7 percent of the province?s total. The main minority ethnical groups are Zhuang, Yao, She, Hui and Manchu.

Literacy:

According to statistics of 2001, there are 62 higher learning institutions, with 139,000 freshmen and a total enrollment of 381,900 students, increasing 15.12 percent and 27.53 percent respectively as compared with that of the preceding year. There are 40 colleges for continuous education, with 97,100 students newly enrolled in the year and a total enrollment of 233,000 students, increasing 13.37 percent and 15.7 percent respectively on the preceding year. There are 26 schools and academies for graduate programs, enrolling 7,400 graduate students in the year, with a total enrollment of 17,900 students, increasing 30.29 percent, and 37.59 percent respectively on the preceding year. The province?s high schools enrolled 609,600 students in the year, with a total enrollment of 1.6299 million students, an increase of 9.61 percent and 6.84 percent respectively on the preceding year. The schooling rate of children of primary school age in the province is 99.62 percent; the total enrollment of primary schools is 9.5298 million. Of the primary school graduates, 96.35 percent enter junior high schools.