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: 64,117,452
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 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (male 15,167,395; female 14,977,346)
15-64 years: 50% (male 16,195,637; female 15,987,089)
65 years and over: 3% (male 816,011; female 973,974) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.76% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 45.13 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 17.63 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 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: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 101.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.17 years
male: 44.41 years
female: 45.94 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7.07 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Ethiopian(s)
adjective: Ethiopian

Ethnic groups: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigray 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%

Religions: Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%

See also: Tewahedo Church, Coptic Christianity

Languages: Amharic, Tigrigna, Oromigna, Guragigna , Somali, Arabic, other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 35.5%
male: 45.5%
female: 25.3% (1995 est.)

See also : Ethiopia