People

Population: 1 622 328 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 44% (male 362 310; female 354 386)

15-64 years: 52% (male 414 281; female 426 921)

65 years and over: 4% (male 27 001; female 37 429) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.6% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 35.84 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 19.82 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: 1.02 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: 66.76 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 41.48 years

male: 41.73 years

female: 41.24 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.99 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Namibian(s)

adjective: Namibian

Ethnic groups: black 86% white 6.6% mixed 7.4%

note: about 50% of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% to the Kavangos tribe; other ethnic groups are: Herero 7% Damara 7% Nama 5% Caprivian 4% Bushmen 3% Baster 2% Tswana 0.5%

Religions: Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least other Christian denominations 30%) native religions 10% to 20%

Languages: English 7% (official) Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population German 32% indigenous languages: Oshivambo Herero Nama

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 38%

male: 45%

female: 31% (1960 est.)