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Ese pueblo tiene menos de cien habitantes.

Ese pueblo tiene menos de cien habitantes.
That town has fewer than a hundred inhabitants.
From Lesson 258:Comparisons with numerals (más de, menos de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ese pueblo tiene menos de cien habitantes.

Why do we use menos de here instead of menos que?
When making comparisons with numbers (like cien), you must use de instead of que. So, "fewer than a hundred" translates to menos de cien. If you were comparing two different nouns or actions, like "I have less money than you," you would use menos que (Tengo menos dinero que tú).
Why is the word for a hundred cien here, rather than ciento?
You use cien when it comes exactly before the noun it describes (like habitantes). You also don't need to say un cien for "a hundred," just cien. You only use ciento for numbers over a hundred, like 101 (ciento uno) or 130 (ciento treinta).
I always mix up ese and eso. Why is it Ese pueblo in this sentence?
Ese is the masculine singular word for "that" when it is placed directly in front of a masculine noun, like pueblo. You only use eso when you are talking about an abstract idea, a situation, or an unidentified object (like "What is that?" -> ¿Qué es eso?). Eso is never placed right next to a noun.
Doesn't pueblo also mean "people"?
Yes! Pueblo can mean a physical "town" or "village," as it does in this sentence. However, it can also refer to a "people" or a "nation" in a cultural or political sense (for example, el pueblo mexicano means "the Mexican people").

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