Beijing

People

Beijing grew rapidly in the twentieth century, especially after the Communist revolution of 1949. Today the Beijing metropolitan area has a population of more than 12 million people. Between six and eight million live in the city proper, and the rest in the surrounding area. The population of the central city has also been expanded by the presence of more than three million transient workers from other areas.

Officially, 56 different ethnic groups are recognized in Beijing; however, an overwhelming majority of the population (96.2 percent) belongs to the Han ethnic group. The remainder are divided among the 55 other ethnicities, of which the most populous are the Manchus, Hui, and Mongolians. Several ethnic groups live in their own neighborhoods, with special facilities for observing their traditional cultural practices.