Population set to cross 100 million in Chinese province

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 14:26

Tags: China province population, China population

Population set to cross 100 million in Chinese province

Beijing: Henan is set to become first province in China with more than 100 million people later this month, giving it a population size similar to the Philippines.

Largely rural Henan provides China with many migrant workers who have helped transform the nation into the world's third biggest economy.

Henan's population jumped from 40 million in the 1950s to about 90 million in the 1990s.

Its population is poised to touch 100 million later this month, the official media reported today.

The province would have an estimated 33 million additional people if Beijing had not introduced the one-child policy three decades ago, the report said.

Henan's population was estimated to reach 107 million by 2020, according to provincial family planning officials. China is projected to have 1.39 billion citizens by 2015, up from 1.32 billion at the end of 2008.

China will begin its sixth census on November 1 which was expected to cost about 1.2 billion dollars. Such a census is held every 10 years.

The last one in 2000 put the population at more than 1.29 billion. China's urban population is also set to overtake its rural population for the first time by 2015, with the number of people living in towns and cities set to top 700 million.

PTI

First Published: Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 14:26