People

Age structure:

0-14 years: 33% (male 572 430; female 532 917)

15-64 years: 61% (male 941 076; female 1 086 541)

65 years and over: 6% (male 82 184; female 115 606) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.97% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 21.35 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 7.45 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.16 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Gender ratio:

at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 45.01 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 68.64 years

male: 65.58 years

female: 71.94 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.57 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Albanian(s)

adjective: Albanian

Ethnic groups: Albanian 97% Greeks 2% other 1% (Vlachs Gypsies Serbs and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)

note: in 1989 other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization)

Religions: Muslim 70% Albanian Orthodox 20% Roman Catholic 10%

note: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990 Albania began allowing private religious practice

Languages: Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect)

Literacy:

definition: age 9 and over can read and write

total population: 72%

male: 80%

female: 63% (1955 est.)