Population:
42,768,678
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 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 30% (male 6,460,273; female 6,377,090)
15-64 years: 65% (male 13,807,922; female 13,970,088)
65 years and over: 5% (male 864,441; female 1,288,864) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 24.5 years
male: 24 years
female: 25 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
0.01% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
18.87 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
18.42 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 60.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 56.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 64.73 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.56 years
male: 46.57 years
female: 46.54 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.24 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
20.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
5 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
360,000 (2001 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: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)