| Population | 2,125,262
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 2007 est.) |
|
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 35.7% (male 382,308/female 377,303)
15-64 years: 59.3% (male 613,979/female 645,818)
65 years and over: 5% (male 42,621/female 63,233) (2007 est.) |
|
| Median age | total: 21.1 years
male: 20.4 years
female: 21.7 years (2007 est.) |
|
| Population growth rate | 0.144% (2007 est.) |
|
| Birth rate | 24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
| Death rate | 22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
| Net migration rate | -0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.013 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.674 male(s)/female
total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
|
| Infant mortality rate | total: 79.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 84.4 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 75.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
|
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 39.97 years
male: 40.73 years
female: 39.18 years (2007 est.) |
|
| Total fertility rate | 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
|
People living
with HIV/AIDS | 320,000 (2003 est.) |
|
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 29,000 (2003 est.) |
|
| Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
|
| Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, |
|
| Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% |
|
| Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
|
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8%
male: 74.5%
female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
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