People

Population: 16 846 808 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 29% (male 2 486 607; female 2 413 207)

15-64 years: 64% (male 5 243 028; female 5 523 199)

65 years and over: 7% (male 393 950; female 786 817) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.17% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 17.24 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 10.15 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.79 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 58.25 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 63.59 years

male: 58.12 years

female: 69.33 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.12 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Kazakhstani(s)

adjective: Kazakhstani

Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 46% Russian 34.7% Ukrainian 4.9% German 3.1% Uzbek 2.3% Tatar 1.9% other 7.1% (1996)

Religions: Muslim 47% Russian Orthodox 44% Protestant 2% other 7%

Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq) official language spoken by over 40% of population Russian official language spoken by two-thirds of population and used in everyday business

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 98%

male: 99%

female: 96% (1989 est.)