tly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 48.24% (male 12,988,488; female
12,878,232)

15-64 years: 49.21% (male 12,931,886; female 13,459,109)

65 years and over: 2.55% (male 575,113; female 791,890) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.1% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 46.02 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 15.15 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

note: one million refugees fled into Zaire (now called the
Democratic Republic of the Congo or DROC) in 1994 to escape the
fighting between the Hutus and the Tutsis; fighting in the DROC
between rebels and government forces in October 1996 caused 875,000
refugees to return to Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997; an
additional 173,000 Rwandan refugees disappeared in early 1997 and
are assumed to have been killed by Zairian forces; fighting between
the Congolese government and Uganda- and Rwanda-backed Congolese
rebels spawned a regional war in DROC in August 1998, which left 1.8
million Congolese displaced in DROC and caused 300,000 Congolese
refugees to flee to surrounding countries

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female

total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 99.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 48.94 years

male: 46.96 years

female: 50.98 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.84 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 5.07% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 95,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Congolese (singular and plural)

adjective: Congolese or Congo

Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority
are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu),
and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%,
Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10