人类 (rén lèi) means humanity or human beings as a species. 人 means person and 类 means category or kind, so the compound means the human kind. It is used in scientific, philosophical, and rhetorical contexts to refer to all of humankind (人类文明, human civilisation; 人类进化, human evolution). It differs from 人们 (rén men, people - referring to a group of people in context) and 人民 (rén mín, the people - with political overtones).