人口

• Pinyin: rén kǒu
• Hanzi breakdown: 人 = pictograph of a standing person; 口 = pictograph of an open mouth

Meaning

Population; the number of people in a place. Used for demographic and statistical contexts.

Primarily used when discussing the population of a country, city, or region. Common in news, geography, and social studies. Appears in compounds like 人口密度 (population density) and 人口普查 (census). Not used to count people in a small group.

Examples

1. 中国的人口非常多。 China has a very large population.
2. 这个城市的人口有八百万。 The population of this city is eight million.
3. 农村的人口越来越少了。 The population in rural areas is getting smaller and smaller.

Usage Guide

Context: geography, statistics, news

Tone: informational

Do Say

• 北京的人口超过两千万。(The population of Beijing exceeds twenty million.)
• 这个国家的人口在增长。(The population of this country is growing.)

Don't Say

• 不要用人口来指一小群人 (Don't use 人口 to refer to a small group of people — it means population at a macro level; for a small group use 人数 or 人)

Origin & History

人 (rén, person) + 口 (kǒu, mouth). Historically, households were counted by the number of 'mouths to feed,' so 口 came to represent individuals in a population count.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal