Population: 2,128,950 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (male 424,355; female 422,892)
15-64 years: 56% (male 573,285; female 610,636)
65 years and over: 4% (male 40,604; female 57,178) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.8% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 31.26 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 13.23 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 77.58 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.99 years
male: 51.37 years
female: 54.65 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.03 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho

Ethnic groups: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans 1,600, Asians 800

Religions: Christian 80%, rest indigenous beliefs

Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.3%
male: 81.1%
female: 62.3% (1995 est.)