  We present the first stellar density profile of the Milky Way bulge reaching
latitude $b=0^\circ$. It is derived by counting red clump stars within the
colour\--magnitude diagram constructed with the new PSF-fitting photometry from
VISTA Variables in the V\'\i a L\'actea (VVV) survey data. The new stellar
density map covers the area between $|l|\leq 10^\circ$ and $|b|\leq 4.5^\circ$
with unprecedented accuracy, allowing to establish a direct link between the
stellar kinematics from the Giraffe Inner Bulge Spectroscopic Survey (GIBS) and
the stellar mass density distribution. In particular, the location of the
central velocity dispersion peak from GIBS matches a high overdensity in the
VVV star count map. By scaling the total luminosity function (LF) obtained from
all VVV fields to the LF from Zoccali et al.(2003), we obtain the first fully
empirical estimate of the mass in stars and remnants of the Galactic bulge.
  The Milky Way bulge stellar mass within ($|b|<9.5^\circ$, $|l|<10^\circ$) is
$2.0\pm0.3\times 10^{10}M_{\odot}$.
