Short facts about people of Central African Republic

Population:

3,576,884 note:  estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years:  43.23% (male 778,885; female 767,414) 15-64 years:  53% (male 929,717; female 965,947) 65 years and over:  3.77% (male 59,364; female 75,557) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.85% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:

37.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:

18.53 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth:  1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years:  1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years:  0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over:  0.79 male(s)/female total population:  0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

105.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population:  43.8 years male:  42.17 years female:  45.48 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

4.86 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

13.84% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

240,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

23,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality:

noun:  Central African(s) adjective:  Central African

Ethnic groups:

Baya 34%, Banda 27%, Sara 10%, Mandjia 21%, Mboum 4%, M'Baka 4%, Europeans 6,500 (including 1,500 French)

Religions:

indigenous beliefs 24%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%, other 11% note:  animistic beliefs and practices strongly influence the Christian majority

Languages:

French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili

Literacy:

definition:  age 15 and over can read and write total population:  60% male:  68.5% female:  52.4% (1995 est.)

Source: World Factbook