People

Population: 705 053 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 32% (male 116 705; female 111 262)

15-64 years: 62% (male 214 914; female 221 502)

65 years and over: 6% (male 16 846; female 23 824) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.81% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 22.78 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 4.67 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

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

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

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

65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 7.09 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 75.4 years

male: 72.36 years

female: 78.6 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.67 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)

adjective: Reunionese

Ethnic groups: French African Malagasy Chinese Pakistani Indian

Religions: Roman Catholic 94% Hindu Islam Buddhist

Languages: French (official) Creole widely used

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 79%

male: 76%

female: 80% (1982 est.)