Age structure:
0-14 years:
35% (male 3,914,112; female 3,697,731)
15-64 years:
61% (male 6,655,506; female 6,642,073)
65 years and over:
4% (male 386,387; female 497,484) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.01% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 25.3 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 5.25 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
note:
does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 20.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
70.83 years
male:
68.22 years
female:
73.63 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.29 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Malaysian(s)
adjective:
Malaysian
Ethnic groups: Malay and other indigenous 58%, Chinese 26%, Indian 7%, others 9%
Religions: Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism; note - in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia
Languages: Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note - in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
83.5%
male:
89.1%
female:
78.1% (1995 est.)