Population:

43,786,115
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 28.6% (male 6,295,422/female 6,219,283)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 14,114,838/female 14,737,791)
65 years and over: 5.5% (male 927,932/female 1,490,849) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 24.5 years
male: 23.8 years
female: 25.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.501% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-0.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 58.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 61.64 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 54.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 42.37 years
male: 43.3 years
female: 41.42 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.11 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

21.5% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

5.3 million (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

370,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Nationality:

noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African

Ethnic groups:

black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

Religions:

Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)

Languages:

IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)