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Más de la mitad de la gente no está en el registro.

Más de la mitad de la gente no está en el registro.
More than half of the people are not in the registry.
From Lesson 259:Comparisons with numerals (más de, menos de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Más de la mitad de la gente no está en el registro.

Why is it más de here instead of más que?
When you say "more than" or "less than" before a number, a specific quantity, or a fraction like la mitad, Spanish uses más de. You use más que when comparing two different nouns or actions, like "I have more dogs than cats" (Tengo más perros que gatos).
Why does Spanish say la mitad (the half) instead of just mitad?
When fractions like "half", "a third", or "a quarter" are used as nouns, Spanish requires a definite article. So "half of the people" translates literally to "the half of the people" (la mitad de la gente).
Why is the verb está singular when the English translation says "people are"?
Even though "people" is plural in English, the Spanish word gente is a singular collective noun. Since it's treated as a single group, it takes a singular verb (la gente está, not la gente están).
Why use está instead of es for being in a registry?
Being included on a list or in a registry is treated as a physical or figurative location, as well as a state that can change. Both location and changeable states require the verb estar rather than ser.

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