Population: 38 580 949 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 6 474 927; female 6 321 404)
15-64 years: 62% (male 11 725 078; female 12 333 982)
65 years and over: 5% (male 780 486; female 945 072) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.89% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 24.93 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.69 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.34 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 25.44 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.06 years
male: 66.15 years
female: 74.11 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Colombian(s)
adjective: Colombian

Ethnic groups: mestizo 58% white 20% mulatto 14% black 4% mixed black-Amerindian 3% Amerindian 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Languages: Spanish

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.3%
male: 91.2%
female: 91.4% (1995 est.)