Population:
60,085,804
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 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48.1% (male 14,513,779/female 14,396,952)
15-64 years: 49.4% (male 14,579,101/female 15,121,297)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 597,776/female 876,099) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 15.8 years
male: 15.4 years
female: 16.2 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.98% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
44.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
14.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: fighting between the Congolese Government and Uganda- and Rwanda-backed Congolese rebels spawned a regional war in DROC in August 1998, which left 1.8 million Congolese internally displaced and caused 300,000 Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding countries (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 92.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 101.25 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 84.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 49.35 years
male: 47.29 years
female: 51.47 years (2005 est.)
See also: Healthy Life Expectancy
See also: Health Performance
Total fertility rate:
6.54 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
4.2% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1.1 million (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
100,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, plague, and African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) are high risks in some locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2004)
Nationality:
noun: Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Congolese or Congo
Ethnic groups:
over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population
Religions:
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%
Languages:
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population: 65.5%
male: 76.2%
female: 55.1% (2003 est.)
