Population 43,647,658
note: South Africa took a census October 1996 that 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 2002 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 31.6% (male 6,943,761; female 6,849,745)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 13,377,011; female 14,300,850)
65 years and over: 5% (male 816,222; female 1,360,069) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate 0.02% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 20.63 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate 18.86 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate -1.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate 61.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 45.43 years
female: 45.68 years (2002 est.)
male: 45.19 years

Total fertility rate 2.38 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 19.94% (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS 5.2 million (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths 300,000 (2000 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: 85%
male: 86%
female: 85% (2000 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding South Africa on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of South Africa People 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about South Africa People 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.