Population 1,236,914,658 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 26% (male 169,347,516; female 149,897,253)
15-64 years: 68% (male 431,164,591; female 404,513,208)
65 years and over: 6% (male 38,398,920; female 43,593,170) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate 0.83% (1998 est.)

Birth rate 15.73 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate 6.99 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate -0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio
at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate 45.46 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 69.59 years
male: 68.32 years
female: 71.06 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate 1.8 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
note: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic

Languages Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding China on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of China People 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about China People 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.