Help with translation

[[欧阳江]]

I can't figure out the meaning of the sentence marked in red, please help me.

中国是一个农业大国，十三亿人口就有九亿农民，可是，很久以来，农民在农村中的生存状态究竟如何，绝大多数城市人并不清楚。

[Quest]

I will help you re-word the sentence:

在 农村 中, 农民的 生存 状态 究竟(really) 如何 (like what) ?

Is this better?

[MarkKang]

Your red phrase can be transated like this:

how actually are the living conditions of the farmers in the countryside?

It is simply a long noun phrase with a question. The essential elements are:

状态 如何

[semantic nuance]

I will translate it as follows:

For a long time, it has not been quite clear to the city dwellers about what the living conditions of the farmers in the countryside are.

Hope it answers to your question.

[[欧阳江]]

Thanks! You have been really helpful. This is my translation:

China is an agrarian society. Amongst it's 1.3 billion large population, 900 million people are farmers. But still, since a very long time, what the actual conditions are for the farmers living in rural areas is still unclear for the grater number of the urban population.