LinkedIn announced today that it has reached more than 500 million registered users on its social network for professionals.

LinkedIn stopped publishing its own quarterly earnings reports after it was acquired by Microsoft Corp. last year for a hefty $26.2 billion, but on its final report in October, the company revealed that it had more than 467 million users. With 7 percent user growth in just six months, whatever Microsoft is doing with LinkedIn seems to be working.

“The impact of half a billion professionals connecting and communicating is very real, and very accessible to anyone who wants to take part today,” Aatif Awan, vice president of Growth & International Products at LinkedIn, wrote in a blog post. “We’re excited to think about the potential of what a highly connected global community of professionals can do, and the value that is created for every member of the global workforce.”

According to Awan, LinkedIn users represent more than 9 million companies, and they publish more than 100,000 articles every week. Awan also shared some interesting details about who exactly is using LinkedIn’s services. For example, the country with the highest average number of LinkedIn connections is United Arab Emirates with 211. Meanwhile, the metro region with the highest number of connections is London, with the San Francisco Bay Area lagging behind in third place just behind Amsterdam. Unsurprisingly, the most connected industry and job function is recruiting and human resources, respectively.

Awan said that connections are one LinkedIn’s most valuable features, and he noted that adding even a single connection on the network can connect a user with more than 400 new people and more than 100 new companies.

While 500 million is certainly an impressive figure for LinkedIn, it is important to note that this number represents only cumulative registered accounts rather than active users. In LinkedIn’s October earnings report, the site revealed that its monthly active user base averaged around 106 million members, putting it far below social juggernauts like Facebook Inc., which boasts a ridiculous 1.86 billion monthly active users.

Image: LinkedIn