the highest rate of centenarians in the world (22 centenarians/100,000 inhabitants). The key factors of such a high concentration of centenarians are identified in the genetics of the Sardinians, lifestyle such as diet and nutrition, and the social structure. Demographic indicators Birth Rate: 8.3 (per 1,000 inhabitants – 2005) Fertility Rate: 1.07 (births per woman – 2005) Mortality rate: 8.7 (per 1,000 inhabitants – 2005) Infant mortality rate males: 4.6 (per 1,000 births- 2000) Infant mortality rate females: 3.0 (per 1,000 births – 2000) Marriage rate: 2.9 (per 1,000 inhabitants – 2014) Suicide rate males: 20.4 (per 100,000 inhabitants) Suicide rate females: 4.5 (per 100,000 inhabitants) Total literacy rate: 98.2% Literacy rate under 65 years old: 99.5% Historical population Division by gender and age Total population by age Geographical distribution Most Sardinians are native to the island but a sizable number of people have settled outside Sardinia: it had been estimated that, between 1955 and 1971, 308,000 Sardinians emigrated to the Italian mainland. Sizable Sardinian communities are located in Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Tuscany and Latium. Sardinians and their descendants are also numerous in Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the USA (part of the Italian-American community). Almost all the Sardinians migrating to the Americas settled down in the Southern part of the continent, especially in Argentina (between 1900 and 1913 about 12,000 Sardinians lived in Buenos Aires and neighbourhoods) and Uruguay (in Montevideo in the 1870s lived 12,500 Sardinians). Between 1876 and 1903, 92% of the Sardinians that moved towards the Americas settled in Brazil. Between 1876 and 1925 34,190 Sardinians migrated to Africa, in particular towards the then French Algeria and Tunisia. Small communities with Sardinians ancestors, about 5000 people, are also found in Brazil (mostly in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), the UK, and Australia. The Region of Sardinia keeps a register of overseas Sardinians who have managed to set up, in the Italian mainland and the rest of the world, a number of cultural associations: these are meant to provide the people of Sardinian descent, or those with an interest on Sardinian culture, an opportunity to enjoy a wide range of activities. As of 2012, there are 145 clubs registered on it. Unlike the rest of Italian emigration, where migrants were mainly males, between 1953 and 1974 an equal number of females and males emigrated from Sardinia to the Italian mainland. Surnames