Population: 38,608,929 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 20% (male 3,921,093; female 3,734,223)
15-64 years: 68% (male 13,076,231; female 13,243,716)
65 years and over: 12% (male 1,762,135; female 2,871,531) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.05% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 10.61 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 9.72 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 12.76 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.06 years
male: 68.93 years
female: 77.41 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.45 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish

Ethnic groups: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Byelorussian 0.5% (1990 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%

Languages: Polish

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 98% (1978 est.)