An aerial view of Yushan Island. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsrbs]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province is a city of islands and among its 2,085 islands, 87 are inhabited, two more than the figure revealed by the sixth nationwide population census in 2010, according to the seventh census conducted last year.

Zhoushan Island's Dinghai district is home to 448,600 residents while its Putuo district on the island has 246,900 residents, 10.1 percent and 8.2 percent more than 10 years before respectively.

In addition to Zhoushan Island, the top 10 islands in the city in terms of permanent resident population are Daishan, Liuheng, Wushan, Jintang, Sijiaoshan, Dayushan, Zhujiajian, Lujiazhi, Xiushan and Taohua.

Compared with last census, Dayushan, Lujiazhi, and Xiushan islands made it to the top 10 inhabited islands for the first time.

As Zhoushan has experienced rapid economic and social development in recent years, especially industrial projects starting operations on small islands, more people have come to work and live on these islands.

Statistics show that there are 35 islands with a constantly increasing permanent resident population over the past 10 years. The islands of Xiaoqushan, Dayushan and Shulanghu have the largest growths.

Xiaoqushan, Dayushan and Shulanghu currently house 800 residents, 30,900 residents and 2,700 residents respectively, 97.3 times, 38.3 times and 18.8 times more than in 2010.

Transfer terminal of minerals on Shulanghu Island. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsrbs]