People:
Population: 2,771,901 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 622,797; female 616,902)
15-64 years: 52% (male 734,425; female 700,124)
65 years and over: 3% (male 47,099; female 50,554) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 5.76% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 41.88 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 11.28 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 27.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
note: until domestic peace is restored, many Liberian refugees will
not return from exile
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 103.13 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 59.45 years
male: 56.81 years
female: 62.16 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.09 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Liberian(s)
adjective: Liberian
Ethnic groups: indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves)
Religions: traditional 70%, Muslim 20%, Christian 10%
Languages: English 20% (official), about 20 tribal languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 38.3%
male: 53.9%
female: 22.4% (1995 est.)