People

Population:  22,894,384 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 19.7% (male 2,349,077/female 2,156,755)

15-64 years: 70.7% (male 8,205,933/female 7,980,056)

65 years and over: 9.6% (male 1,107,708/female 1,094,855) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:  0.63% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:  12.64 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:  6.38 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female

total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 7.09 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 5.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 77.26 years

male: 74.49 years

female: 80.28 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:  1.57 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Taiwanese (singular and plural)

adjective: Taiwanese

Ethnic groups: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84% mainland Chinese 14% aborigine 2%

Religions: mixture of Buddhist Confucian and Taoist 93% Christian 4.5% other 2.5%

Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka, aboriginal languages

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 96.1% (2003)