This article is about the
demographicDemographics or demographic data are selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research...
features of the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, including
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
,
ethnicityAn ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the researcher Seng Yang in the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common cultural,...
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
's population is relatively homogeneous, however, this is changing due to immigration. More than 85% speak a Tai language and share a common culture. This core population includes the central Thai (33.7% of the population, including
BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
's population), Northeastern Thai or
LaoThe Lao are an ethnic subgroup of Tai/Dai in Southeast Asia. The vast majority of Lao people live in Laos .-Names:...
(34.2%), northern Thai (18.8%), and southern Thai (13.3%).
The language of the central Thai population is the educational language and administrative language. Several other small Tai groups include the
ShanThe Shan are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan live primarily in the Shan State of Burma , but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Division, Kachin State, and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China and Thailand...
,
LueThe Lu people are an ethnic group of Vietnam, China, and Thailand. In Vietnam, most Lu live in the Lai Chau Province, and their population was 4,964 in 1999. In China, they are officially recognized as part of the Dai ethnic group. They speak a Tai language.Lu is the indigenous people in Mường Thanh...
, and Phutai.
Up to 14% of Thailand's population are of Chinese descent, but the
Sino-ThaiThe Thai Chinese are an overseas Chinese community who live in Thailand. Official statistics show that six million people in 1987, or about 14% of Thailand's population claim to be of Chinese ethnicity. Extensive intermarriages with the Thais, especially in the past has resulted in many people who...
community is the best integrated in
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
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. Malay and Yawi-speaking Muslims of the south comprise another significant minority group (2.3%). Other groups include the
KhmerThe Khmer people; ខ្មែរ ; are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon-Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
; the Mon, who are substantially assimilated with the Thai; and the
VietnameseThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
. Smaller mountain-dwelling tribes, such as the
HmongThe terms Mong and Hmong refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southeast Asia. Hmong are also one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu population in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to...
and Mein, as well as the
KarenThe Karen , self-titled Pwa Ka Nyaw Po or Kayan, and also known in Thailand as the Kariang or Yang, are some languages and many ethnic groups in Burma and Thailand. The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of 47 million people.The Karen have fought for independence...
, number about 788,024.
Some 300,000 Hmong, who ironically have lived this area for more generations than the Thais themselves, are to receive citizenship by 2010.
Thailand is also home to a significant number of registered foreigners from
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, as well as an estimated several hundred thousand illegal immigrants, some of which are natives. Increasing numbers of migrants from Burma, Laos, and Cambodia as well as nations such as Nepal, India, and expats from the West and Japan have pushed the number of non-nationals residing in Thailand to close to 2 million in 2008, up from about 1.3 million in the year 2000. A rising awareness of minorities is slowly changing attitudes in a country where non-nationals, some having resided in what is now Thailand longer than the Thais themselves, are barred from numerous privileges ranging from healthcare, ownership of property, or schooling in their own language.
The population is mostly rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions. However, as Thailand continues to industrialize, its urban population - 31.1% of the total population, principally in the
BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
area - is growing.
Thailand's highly successful government-sponsored
family planningFamily planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
program has resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today.
Life expectancyLife expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by e
x, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
also has risen, a positive reflection of Thailand's efforts in executing public health policies. However, the
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
epidemic has had a major impact on the Thai population. Today, over 700,000 Thais are HIV or AIDS positive - approximately 2% of adult men and 1.5% of adult women. Every year, 30,000-50,000 Thais die from HIV or AIDS-related causes. Ninety percent of them aged 20–24, the youngest range of the workforce. The situation could have been worse; an aggressive public education campaign in the early 1990s reduced the number of new HIV infections from 150,000 to 25,000 annually.
The 1997 constitution mandated 12 years of free education, however, this is not provided universally. Education accounts for 19% of total government expenditures.
Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand and is
officially the religion of about 97% of its people. However, the true figure lies closer to 85%, Muslims are some 10% and 5% other religions including Christianity, Hinduism, especially among immigrants. In addition to Malay and Yawi speaking Thais and other southerners who are Muslim, the
ChamCham may refer to:*Cham Albanians, also spelled as Çam, a people originating in northern Greece of Albanian descent*Cham people, a people living in Vietnam and Cambodia**Cham language, the language of the Cham people...
of Cambodia in recent years begun a large scale influx into Thailand. The government permits religious diversity, and other major religions are represented, though there is much social tension, especially in the South. Spirit worship and
animismAnimism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, a proposition also...
are widely practiced.
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Population
According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand has a population of about 62,000,000 people
Age structure
- 0-14 years: 21.2% (male 7,104,776/female 6,781,453)
- 15-64 years: 70.3% (male 22,763,274/female 23,304,793)
- 65 years and over: 8.5% (male 2,516,721/female 3,022,281) (2008 est.)
- 0-14 years: 20.8% (male 7,009,845/female 6,691,470)
- 15-64 years: 70.5% (male 22,977,945/female 23,512,538)
- 65 years and over: 8.7% (male 2,594,387/female 3,119,225) (2009 est.)
Birth rate
13.57 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
In 2006, the birth rate was 10.85/1000 pop.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=117911 . NE had a TBR of 12.24, while Bangkok had 8.83.
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
56 migrant /1000 population (2008 est)
Sex ratio
- at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
- total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
- at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
- total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate
18.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
- total: 17.63 deaths/1,000 live births
- male: 18.9 deaths/1,000 live births
- female: 16.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- total population: 72.83 years
- male: 70.51 years
- female: 75.27 years (2008 est.)
Ethnic groups
Tai"Thai peoples" redirects here. For the subgroup of the Tai, see Thai peopleThe Tai "Chinese 泰" ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which...
(including Lao, who make up about ⅓ of the Thai population) 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Religions
BuddhismBuddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Nearly 95% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population.Buddhist temples in Thailand...
94.6%,
IslamIslam, while a minority faith in Thailand, is quickly growing, with the 2005 statistics from National Statistic Office of Thailand estimating approximately 2.2 million, or equivalent to 4.5% of the population of 49.5 million , are Muslims Most Thai Muslims belong to the Sunni sect.-Demographics:A...
4.6%,
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
0.7%,
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
0.1%, other (including Judaism) 0.1% (2000)
Languages
ThaiThai is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Kradai language family. The Kradai languages are thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and are linked to...
(including
IsanIsan is the principal language of the Isan region of Thailand, which lies in the country's northeast...
),
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
(secondary language), Mandarin, Vietnamese,
IsanIsan is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
as well as other ethnic and regional languages and dialects.
Literacy
- definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- total population: 92.6%
- male: 94.9%
- female: 90.5% (2002 est.)