Common Mistakes : inhabitant

noun

.DUBIOUS: The inhabitants certainly know how to make money from tourists
.GOOD: The local inhabitants certainly know how to make money from tourists

The inhabitants of a particular town, country or area are the people who live there, especially considered in terms of quantity or history
.Just ten years ago the town had only 12,000 inhabitants
.The first inhabitants of the island planted coffee beans

To refer to the people living in and around a village or town, who have shared interests and activities, use local inhabitants/local residents/ local population or (in informal styles) locals
.The local residents are against the motorway proposal

BAD: The rapid growth of the world’s inhabitants has produced serious social and economic problems
GOOD: The rapid growth of the world’s population has produced serious social and economic problems

To refer to all the people in the world, or all the people living in a particular country, city, town etc, use population
.Half the world’s population doesn’t have enough to eat
To make it profitable, about a third of the population of France will have to visit Eurodisney each year
.The town has a population of 15,000