A city has a population of 230,000 people. Suppose that each year the population grows by $5.5 \%$. What will the population be after 8 years? Use the calculator provided and round your answer to the nearest whole number.

Step 1 ：This problem is about the growth of a city's population over time. The city has an initial population of 230,000 people and each year the population grows by 5.5%. We want to find out what the population will be after 8 years.

Step 2 ：We can solve this problem using the formula for compound interest, which is \(A = P(1 + \frac{r}{n})^{nt}\). In this formula, A is the final amount, P is the initial amount, r is the annual growth rate, n is the number of times the interest is compounded per year, and t is the time in years.

Step 3 ：In this case, the initial population P is 230,000, the annual growth rate r is 5.5% or 0.055 in decimal form, the interest is compounded annually so n is 1, and the time t is 8 years.

Step 4 ：Substituting these values into the formula, we get \(A = 230000(1 + \frac{0.055}{1})^{1*8}\)

Step 5 ：Calculating the above expression, we get A = 352977.8984491151

Step 6 ：Rounding this to the nearest whole number, we get \(\boxed{352978}\)

Step 7 ：Final Answer: The population of the city after 8 years will be approximately \(\boxed{352978}\)