Demography

The population is 1.8 million people, and the population density is 12 persons per square kilometre. Over the last four years, population has increased by 8 percent, and it is projected to increase by slightly less than 8 percent over the next four years until 2005. [1] The gender balance is distinctly uneven over age groups, with a surplus of males in the age groups up to 19 and above 35, and a significant surplus of females in the group 20 to 34, presumably the result of emigration in search of job opportunities.

The labour force is defined as the population over 10 years of age, which corresponds to 78 percent of the total population, of which 56 percent are employed, 2 percent were looking for work, 18 percent were in school and 19 percent were household workers. The remainder, or 5 percent, were registered as others and are assumed to be unemployed but not actively looking for employment, probably for reasons of age. Table 1 shows the distribution of employment by sector.

Table distribution of employment by sector, 2001, percent

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