Demographics of Ethiopia

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigreans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit lowland regions. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.

Population: 73,053,286
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43.9% (male 16,082,504; female 15,999,602)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 19,452,737; female 19,525,746)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 905,648; female 1,087,049) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.36% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 38.61 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 15.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
note: repatriation of Ethiopians who fled to Sudan for refuge from war and famine in earlier years is expected to continue for several years; small numbers of Sudanese and Somali refugees, who fled to Ethiopia from the fighting or famine in their own countries, continue to return to their homes

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 95.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.83 years
male: 47.67 years
female: 50.03 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.33 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Ethiopian(s)
adjective: Ethiopian

Ethnic groups: ^{1, 2} Oromo 32.1%, Amhara 30.2%, Tigré 6.2%, Somali 6.0%, Gurage 4.3%, Sidama 3.4%, Wolayta 2%, Afar 2%, Hadiya 2%, Gamo 1%

Religions: ¹ Christian 61.6% ( Ethiopian Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.1%, Catholic 0.9%), Muslim 32.8%, Traditional 5.6%

See also: Tewahedo Church, Coptic Christianity

Languages: ¹ Amharic 32.7% (as a first language), Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somali 6.0%, Guragigna 3.5%, Sidama 3.5%, other local languages; Arabic, English (major foreign language taught in schools)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.7%
male: 50.3%
female: 35.1% (2003 est.)

See also : Ethiopia

Demographics of Africa

Demographics of: Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia / Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Western Sahara | Zambia | Zimbabwe

Dependencies: British Indian Ocean Territory | Canary Islands | Ceuta and Melilla | Madeira Islands | Mayotte | Réunion | Saint Helena