ion by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 47.4% (male 14,906,488/female 14,798,210)
15-64 years: 50.1% (male 15,597,353/female 15,793,350)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 632,143/female 933,007) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 16.2 years
male: 16 years
female: 16.4 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
3.07% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
43.69 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
13.27 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
0.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: fighting between the Congolese Government and Uganda- and
Rwanda-backed Congolese rebels spawned a regional war in DRC in
August 1998, which left 2.33 million Congolese internally displaced
and caused 412,000 Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding
countries (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 88.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 96.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 80.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 51.46 years
male: 50.01 years
female: 52.94 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
6.45 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
4.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1.1 million (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
100,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, plague, and African trypanosomiasis
(sleeping sickness) are high risks in some locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2007)

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%

Languages:
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language),
Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswa