Guangdong is the third largest province of China in terms of its population. According to the sampling survey done in 2002, the population of permanent residents in Guangdong Province was 78,585,800 with an annual growth rate of 0.97%, accounting for 6.12% of the whole country and continually ranking the third in China. The average population density is 442 persons per square kilometer. ¡¡

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Guangdong is a renowned hometown of overseas Chinese. At present, those who originated from Guangdong amount to nearly 30 million people, including Chinese nationals living abroad, ethnic Chinese, and compatriots living in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Chinese nationals abroad and ethnic Chinese add up to 20 million people in more than two hundred countries and regions across the world. Compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao total over six million, and Taiwan compatriots about four million.

In addition, over 20 million of returned overseas Chinese and their families now live all over the province, particularly in the Pearl River Delta and Chaoshan plain followed by Meizhou region.

"The World's Hakkas Kinship Conference", "The International Chaozhou Friendship Association" and "The World's Zhongshan Middle Schools Alumni Kinship Conference" are some of the Guangdong overseas Chinese organizations that have clout abroad.