PopulationAs of November 1st 2000, China has reached a population of 1 billion 295 million people spread across 23 provinces (Taiwan included). It is the most populated country in the world. China is rapidly becoming urbanized and today 36% of the population live in the cities. This represents a major evolution in the Chinese society which traditionally was that of a rural society. Capital: Peking (13.8 million inhabitants) Principal cities: Peking, Chonnging, Shanghai, Tianjin, in which each one has more than 10 million inhabitants, these cities have a status of a "town". On the other hand there are no less than 11 cities of more than 2 million inhabitants in China. Principal university cities: Peking and Shanghai are the principal Chinese university centers (36 universities in Peking). Other principal university centers in the country are located in other big cities and province capitals (notably Zhejiang and Jiangshu). Student population: At the end of 1997 there were 1,020 higher education establishments (316 were national and provincial universities) that welcomed 3.2 million "undergraduate" students (1st cycle) and 176,400 "graduate" students.