Population 1,284,303,705 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 24.3% (male 163,821,081; female 148,855,387)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 452,354,428; female 426,055,713)
65 years and over: 7.3% (male 43,834,528; female 49,382,568) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate 0.87% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 15.85 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate 6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio
at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate 27.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 71.86 years
female: 73.86 years (2002 est.)
male: 70.02 years

Total fertility rate 1.82 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate less than 0.2% (2000-01 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS 1.25 million (January 2001)

HIV/AIDS - deaths 17,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

Languages Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding China on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of China People 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about China People 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.