The last census that took place in 2005 reported a population of 3´966,073 inhabitants in the state of Michoacan., which places it in the ninth position in the nation. As in the majority of Mexican states, the population pyramid rests on a base conformed by people younger than 29 years old. The average state population density rate is 68 persons per sq. km., even if 16% of the inhabitants reside in the capital city of Morelia. While life expectancy stands at 77.1 years for women and 71.7 years of age for men, the migration rate for the state is 4,0%, very high compared with the national average of about 0,16%. Regarding education, the schooling level of the population over 15 years of age is of only 6,9 years; 13% of the total have no literacy; 20% never finished primary school; and only 6% finished college, according to the latest statistics. However, it is worth mentioning that as a result of the joint efforts by the local government and the people of Michoacan, illiteracy rates were brought down to 6% by July 2007, and the target was to put it below 4% by the end of that same year, which wiould be enough for the state to be declared as free of illiteracy, according to standards established by the UNESCO. The state is home to just four native groups, the majority of which belong to the Purepecha culture of 109,361 inhabitants, who reside throughout the state in a dispersed manner; followed by the Nahuas who live in a couple of localities close to the coastal mountains; and the Mazahua and the Otomi people, spread in five eastern municipalities. All this native inhabitants live in communities of less than 5,000 people and in settlements located far from the great urban, political and economical centers. On the spiritual side, 95% of the population in the state declares to follow the catholic faith, according to the 2005 national population and housing census.