People

Population: 9 840 474 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 46% (male 2 249 108; female 2 228 934)

15-64 years: 52% (male 2 512 768; female 2 584 516)

65 years and over: 2% (male 111 089; female 154 059) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.66% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 40.22 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 23.68 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 133.77 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 36.59 years

male: 36.64 years

female: 36.54 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.62 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Malawian(s)

adjective: Malawian

Ethnic groups: Chewa Nyanja Tumbuko Yao Lomwe Sena Tonga Ngoni Ngonde Asian European

Religions: Protestant 55% Roman Catholic 20% Muslim 20% traditional indigenous beliefs

Languages: English (official) Chichewa (official) other languages important regionally

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 56.4%

male: 71.9%

female: 41.8% (1995 est.)