About half of Dominicans live in rural areas; many are small landholders. Spanish is the dominant language among the majority population. Haitians form the largest minority group, some 500 000 (or 6% of the population) according to Human Rights Watch.^[1] Many Haitians in the Dominican Republic are illegal immigrants; others are Dominican-born citizens, and some are legal immigrants. All religions are tolerated; the state religion is Roman Catholicism.

Population: 8,442,533 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 1,486,902; female 1,422,977)
15-64 years: 61% (male 2,609,934; female 2,518,330)
65 years and over: 5% (male 192,254; female 212,136) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.64% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 25.15 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 4.72 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 35.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.2 years
male: 71.12 years
female: 75.38 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Dominican(s)
adjective: Dominican

Ethnic groups: white 16%, black 11%, mulatto 73%

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Languages: Spanish, Haitian Creole (among Haitian migrants)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.1%
male: 82%
female: 82.2% (1995 est.)

See also : Dominican Republic