Short facts about people of South Africa

Population:

43,586,097 note:  South Africa took a census October 1996 which showed a population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8% underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey); 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:  32.01% (male 7,023,639; female 6,928,559) 15-64 years:  63.11% (male 13,264,654; female 14,244,484) 65 years and over:  4.88% (male 798,914; female 1,325,847) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.26% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth:  1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years:  1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years:  0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over:  0.6 male(s)/female total population:  0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

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

Life expectancy at birth:

total population:  48.09 years male:  47.64 years female:  48.56 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.43 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

19.94% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

4.2 million (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

250,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality:

noun:  South African(s) adjective:  South African

Ethnic groups:

black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%

Religions:

Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%

Languages:

11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

Literacy:

definition:  age 15 and over can read and write total population:  81.8% male:  81.9% female:  81.7% (1995 est.)

Source: World Factbook