Population:

1,330,044,544 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 20.1% (male 142,085,665/female 125,300,391)
15-64 years: 71.9% (male 491,513,378/female 465,020,030)
65 years and over: 8% (male 50,652,480/female 55,472,661) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 33.6 years
male: 33.1 years
female: 34.2 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.629% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

13.71 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

7.03 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 21.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 19.43 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 73.18 years
male: 71.37 years
female: 75.18 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.77 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

840,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

44,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
water contact disease: leptospirosis
animal contact disease: rabies
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups:

Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census)

Religions:

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

Languages:

Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), 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: 90.9%
male: 95.1%
female: 86.5% (2000 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

1.9% of GDP (1999)