Just who -- or what -- are the 55,000 people who descend on the Black Rock Desert every August to witness Burning Man?



They're Burners, clearly. But a new census of Burning Man attendees sheds more light than ever before on their identities, according to the Peninsula Press.



For example, half of all attendees have a college degree. And all ages, from the babies to the elderly, attend, the newspaper reported.



There are more men than women, at 54 percent male to 46 percent female, the newspaper reported. That's an increase up from 34 percent women attendees in 2001, the news source reported.



And not everyone is a proud burner: nearly 16 percent of attendees lied about attending the festival "because they were ashamed," the news source reported.



Many people who work in the technology industry attend the festival, the news source reported.



What may be most-surprising? Twenty four percent of respondents to the Black Rock City Census reported themselves to be Republicans, the news source reported.



Visit the entire trove of results at afterburn.burningman.com.

