Population: 39,309,422 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 6,556,566; female 6,402,115)
15-64 years: 62% (male 11,966,306; female 12,593,685)
65 years and over: 5% (male 807,282; female 983,468) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.85% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 24.45 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 5.59 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 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: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 24.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.48 years
male: 66.54 years
female: 74.54 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.87 children born/woman (1999 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.)